Death Wings
by RainbowSpark18
Summary: SEQUEL TO SEA ANGELS Percy's gone missing, again but this time he's not exactly himself. Nico's distraught over trying to find him but when he finds him, will he be the same Percy he fell in love with? War is inevitable, but who is on which side? BOYXBOY, Pernico Don't like, don't read! No flames, but constructive criticism ok! Rated T for language and gore BEING REWRITTEN
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey Sparks! Sequel to Sea Angels is finally up! YAY! If you haven't read Sea Angels first, do that, or this story is going to make absolutely zero sense. Shout out to all those who followed, favorited, and reviewed my last story! Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own PJO, Rick does. I own my OC's and this messed up plot you guys are interested in! ;)**

* * *

 ** _Prologue_**

The man made sure he and Erebus were completely hidden by the darkness, but as a precaution, they had dressed in all black, blending in with the shadows to the best of their abilities without the primordial's powers. They had managed to sneak in past the Caldecott Tunnel without so much as a second glance by the two legionnaires on sentry duty.

He had mapped out everything down to the nanosecond, making sure they couldn't afford any setbacks. If anything, the plan had just become a hundred times easier as the girl playing babysitter over Perseus had left him alone in the male Praetor's villa. Sure, the Praetor was there, but Hecate and Nyx had made sure to send the boy a deep sleep that would break when the sun came up.

He glanced at his brother. "Everything's in place, brother. Shall we proceed?"

"You needn't be so formal," Erebus told him in a whisper, as the two phased through entire buildings, blatantly disregarding the architectural accomplishments of Camp Jupiter. Fountains here, aqueducts there, and a million other temples and marble statues of the gods-he had already seen this before, over four millennia ago.

"It's a habit. Ah, there we go! Praetor Zhang's private villa. Let us get going before anything goes awry."

"Have you signaled Nyx?"

"Yes, and the blackout should begin,"-he paused for a moment, before all the torches and electrical lighting from New Rome shut off all at once-"now." He grinned at the sounds of people screaming in outrage as the power no longer flowed through the wires.

Erebus shadow traveled the both of them into the villa as he sprang into action, cutting through the Celestial bronze chains like they were butter with Mors. He quickly sheathed his sword. As he begun to lift Perseus over his shoulder, the son of Poseidon bit his shoulder, making him scowl in mild annoyance at the feeling of teeth biting into his flesh.

"Do we need anything else, brother?" Erebus asked him.

"Grab some of that blasted medication he's on. The disownment predicament is no match for our powers. We'll be able to restore him in time," he said, swinging Perseus' body over his shoulders in a fireman carry. "We need to hurry and get out of here, before Nyx's presence is realized, alerting the gods."

"Agreed." Erebus threw in a few bottles of medicine from a cabinet in the kitchen into a leather pouch he had hanging off his belt, before grabbing his hand, shadow traveling the two of them back to headquarters just as the lights flickered back on.

* * *

"Triton!" he called out, placing Perseus onto a bed they had prepared for him last night. Or at least, he thought a night has passed; time was difficult here. "Triton! Where in Chaos's name are you?"

"Here my lord!" the sea prince cried, bowing to him on his two tails.

He sneered at the godling. "You know how I feel about seeing you in fish form, Triton. Plus, your brother will surely recognize you with your two tails."

"My apologies." Triton's tails took on the form of human legs, though his skin was still a pale green color. At least shorts appeared on him, and he wasn't buck naked in front of a primordial. "You called?"

"Yes, watch Perseus for me until I can reverse his condition."

"My father's an idiot," Triton said, resigned. "It's almost like he _is_ trying to kill Percy."

"You still call Poseidon 'father'?" he asked him.

"Force of habit, my lord."

"Well, break that habit, or we'll have to see how helpful you are with a single tail."

Triton blanched, promising that he would sever all ties with Poseidon further than he actually had. He stood there, smirking as a once proud god was groveling at his feet to keep his appendages attached. If only all the Olympians were this pliable to mold.

"I'll alert you if he changes," Triton offered.

"No. Only let me know if he's on the verge of death, again. We have time to fix him."

"Good. As much as I'm glad that he will survive, I kind of wanted to see Fat-Poseidon's reaction to seeing his favorite son die."

The primordial grinned sadistically, clapping Triton on the back for his idea. "That's ingenious!" he exclaimed. "We'll continue the plan, and you have your orders. Selene will be here shortly with the antidote."

"I understand. Thank you for liking my idea."

"No, thank you for having it. Enjoy your brotherly bonding time, Triton. We will see each other again soon."

* * *

He paced around the throne room, his wife shooting him looks of concern from her throne, as he tried to think of the perfect plan to break the Olympian's resolve. They would need to fake Percy's death, that much he knew, but it needed to be believable enough to sound like it would've actually happened.

Their plan to attack on the winter solstice would need to be postponed, possibly until next year; but if that was the price they needed to pay, they'd wait. Perseus needed to be trained, transformed into a weapon and a general, able to lead entire armies; unafraid in the face of danger. It would take some time, but he was sure they would get there.

"Pontus, sweetie, you're going to wear a hole through the floor if you continue pacing like that," his wife, Thalassa, reminded him.

Pontus stopped pacing, turning to face his wife. "You're good at small details; maybe you could help me with this."

She smiled at him mischievously, so unlike the sweet, kind smile she once possessed. Millennia of being forgotten, her children abandoning her, had really soured her once sweetheart personality, leaving only bitterness and a thirst for revenge.

"Of course, my dear. What's the situation?"

"How do we realistically fake a Hero of Olympus's death?" he pondered.

Thalassa told him everything, and her plan was so detailed that Pontus had needed to call the rest of his accomplices in (minus Selene and Triton) to help accommodate everything. Once everything was planned, Perses handed Pontus a list of everything they needed, and how much time they had to preform it (twenty-one hours, by the way).

"Thank you all for your participation," Pontus said jovially. "Do your part, and return to me once you have finished. Have fun!"

The mix of Titans and gods and protogenoi's ran off, each of them laughing happily as they got to play a part in the grand scheme of things. Even the guards by the doors were breaking character to chuckle a little, and Pontus wouldn't punish them for agreeing with his plan. If anything, maybe one of those guards would make things more realistic.

"Vicky!" Pontus called for the sole daughter of Triton, who quickly ran from her position, bowing in his direction.

"My lord?"

He smiled sadistically down at the young demigoddess, only eleven years of age. "How do you feel about being my spy?"

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this was so short, but if you read my last story, you know they get longer. I've been thinking about this idea for a while, so I'm just going to go ahead an say it. I was thinking of maybe doing one Q &A chapter before this story really gets going. Feel free to send me any question you want, as long as it's appropriate and not invasive, of course. What do you think? I guess I'll know depending on whether you leave a review or not. See ya Sparks soon!~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you guys who already favorited, followed, and reviewed for the prologue! You're amazing, Sparks! I know I say this every time, but please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own PJO, and neither should you, unless your name is Rick Riordan! I only own my OC's and the plot!**

* * *

 ** _Time skip 5 months_**

Nico once again found himself meandering in and out of his daily routine, seeming to always end up by the Sound's shores. He had grown to like the ocean, but he still wouldn't dare venture into its depths, at least, not without Percy.

The sun was brutally beating down overhead, plastering Nico's shaggy hair to his forehead and neck. Ever since Percy's death from Camp Jupiter five months ago, Nico hadn't been taking care of himself like he should've been. He had slowly reverted back into his cold, introverted shell, putting distance between people that tried to be his friend, while only opening up to those he knew before. He was always by himself, except for the three times a day Jason would walk into his cabin with a plate full of food, making him eat the entire thing while making sure he could keep it down. Nico didn't like the daily meetings the he and Jason shared in his cabin, but he knew if Jason didn't bring his meals, he probably wouldn't have eaten at all.

Nico had lost weight after Percy's death, shedding about fifteen pounds. While some people might've wanted to lose fifteen pounds, Nico was barely borderline at a healthy weight for his age before Percy disappeared, for Will had given him the same treatment Jason was doing now. His clothes hung limply off his skinny frame, but it didn't really bother Nico-he had been like that before.

He continued walking down the beach, scowling at the waves that would rush to meet the shore before receding again. His hands were clenched fists in his pocket, his jaw set in irritation. The blue seashell around his neck felt like a lead weight tied around him, dragging him down. As much as Nico had wanted to break the shell while cursing Poseidon for not protecting Percy liked he had promised, it was one of the last things that reminded him of Percy that he could constantly have.

Nico stopped, sighed, and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. Usually the beach made him feel better, but right now it was overwhelming, especially with the sixth month coming up. Nico now knew how Annabeth must've felt the first time Percy disappeared without a trace.

He remembered taking a train from D.C. back to New York with Piper and Jason when he got an Iris message from Hazel, who was in tears, saying that Percy had been kidnapped. As if that wasn't enough, he learned from his sister that he had been disowned by Poseidon, and that the Soul Switch magic had left him practically insane. Bianca had left Camp Jupiter in hopes of finding Hecate to bargain with her for a cure, but a rumor began to spread that Hecate had betrayed the Olympians, _again._ And Kronos had disappeared as well, _again._

His life would never be easy, would it?

Then the day came that he felt his soul, if you could even call it that at this point, enter the Underworld. Nico had tried to summon his soul to talk, but when he appeared, he was so transparent, the slightest gust of wind broke the connection almost instantly. He was heartbroken once more. He knew he shouldn't have uttered those three words-the three words that was a death sentence to everyone he said them to.

Sighing once more, he turned away from the beach and began heading back to the cabin area. He was just about to pass the volleyball courts on the edge of the beach when a tanned hand caught him in the shoulder. Nico scowled, clamped his hand around the person's wrist, and judo flipped them over his shoulder, before planting a foot on their chest, preventing them from getting up. His expression softened mildly when he realized who he was pinning down.

"Sorry about that, Will."

The son of Apollo gave him a warm smile in reply. "I knew you were strong before, but immortality suits you well."

Nico gave him a half-hearted smile, but couldn't keep the grimace off his face. Every time he talked to Will, he couldn't help but feel an air of awkwardness between the two of them. Yeah, you wouldn't be too keen on your ex-boyfriend dating his first crush, because you had died on a suicide quest your father gave you.

"I was pretty surprised when Zeus offered it to everyone," Nico replied, helping Will up from his fallen position.

"I was even more surprised when he brought me and Annabeth back."

At the winter solstice, six months ago, Nico had finally found out what that conversation Poseidon had with Percy at the bottom of the sound a few weeks prior to his kidnapping. The conversation they had had the day Nico went to visit Sally. Speaking of which, he would need to talk with her sometime soon.

Anyways, Poseidon had somehow managed to convince the entire council to grant the seven (minus Percy), Reyna, Nico, and Will (Nico thought that was his father's suggestion) partial immortality for the time being, and when Percy was found, they'd all become gods-their parent's lieutenants. But when the gods caught drift of Percy's death, they upheld their promise still, asking if they wanted to become gods. No one accepted the gift, instead saying they would want to join Percy in Elysium someday instead of living forever.

"Nico?" Will asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Hmm?" Nico blinked twice before realizing that Will had been trying to get his attention, while he had been deep in his own thoughts.

"Did you even hear me?"

"No," he admitted, fingering the shell around his neck subconsciously. It had become a habit of his, one that he felt bittersweet about.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Will clapped him on the back twice, before he mouthed something to his teammates, leading Nico away to a secluded place not too far off from the beach.

"Yeah." Nico bit the inside of his lip, the awkwardness he usually felt coming in like an impending storm. "But at least I know he's in a better place. That's more than I could've wished for."

Will grimaced, pursing his lips into a fine line as he looked over Nico with his doctoral eyes. It was like he was searching for something Nico was hiding, something he wasn't telling anyone about. But Nico had nothing to hide, so the look made him want to squirm.

Will opened his mouth, paused, and then spoke. "Just…be careful what you wish for, okay?" Will looked him over once more, before running back to the volleyball courts, leaving Nico by himself with a confused look on his face.

"Okay, I guess," Nico mumbled to himself, shrugging off Will's comment. He glanced back at the beach one more time, relishing in the cool breeze the sea brought on this unbearably hot day before finally heading back to his cabin, content with locking himself away from the rest of the world.

* * *

Percy gritted his teeth as Kronos's scythe opened a gash on his upper thigh while Triton continued to relentlessly attack him with the broadsword in his hand, not afraid to hit him with the hilt, then using that momentum to cut him once more. Percy parried a blow to the back of his knee with Riptide, continuing his fluid motion and knocking Triton's left foot out from underneath him, causing the sea prince to lose his balance.

Triton cursed in a language that sounded suspiciously like a dolphin, yet Percy could completely understand him. Had Poseidon heard his eldest son, he'd probably wash his mouth out with a bar of soap.

Poseidon.

His name alone was enough to send Percy into a wave of unbridled anger as he suddenly turned into a demon, slashing and hacking at both Kronos and Triton, forcing them on the defensive unless they wanted some very painful wounds inflicted on them. Percy roared, water bursting from the pipes as he shot various water spears and ice daggers as his combatants, aiming for joints that provided vital range of motion: the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. He couldn't help but grin when he heard a grunt of pain escape one of their lips, meaning he had landed a blow.

He jumped over Triton's sword-a hit that would've sent him sprawling-before pivoting on his left foot, landing a roundhouse kick to his brother's face just below the eye, where his cheekbone was. The bone broke with a sickening _CRUNCH_ as Triton collapsed to the training room floor, ichor flowing from his cheek and the other wounds he had received during the fight. With Triton out of the equation, all that left for Percy was Kronos.

Percy was bouncing on the balls of his feet, light as a feather, and ready to jump like a coiled spring the second that Kronos would make his move. He observed his Titan grandfather, hoping to see anything that he might use as an advantage.

Kronos still looked like Luke, even though he was stronger now than when he was first revived, but Percy had grown accustomed to seeing his old, not friend per say, but cabin mate with molten gold eyes instead of baby blue ones. He had a split lip from when Percy knocked his scythe out of the way in a movement that sent the curved tip against his lips. An ugly bruise was forming on his shin; a few gashes here and there lay scattered on his chest and arms; but the deepest wound he had was by his elbow, where Percy had ducked from defending against Triton, letting his own brother open the wound while he rolled away, hoping to catch even the slightest reprieve against his relentless trainers.

 _Trainers,_ he thought. _Why does that feel so wrong to call them trainers?_

Percy had been feeling those kind of doubts for about a month now…and it terrified the living schist out of him. These were his friends/superiors; he _couldn't_ doubt them, not unless he wanted to be whipped again, or shoved in a box only the most skilled contortionist could hope to fit into. It had taken him a week when he first woke up to be properly conditioned into one of Pontus's best soldiers. All he had to do was follow the five rules:

1\. Pontus' orders were never to be questioned; complete them perfectly.

2\. Listen to his superiors.

3\. Treat all the generals with respect. Meaning, don't look them in them in the eyes without their permission, and don't even think about speaking without their permission.

4\. Obey the curfew. It doesn't matter if you had the most prophetic dream about the apocalypse happening tomorrow-stay in your barrack and wait until morning, unless you wanted to spend the night in Thalassa's torture chamber.

5\. Don't even think about becoming a traitor. You'd be tortured until all the useful information was extracted from your brain, then you'd painfully executed in front of everyone as they would mock and taunt and curse your name to the wind.

The punishment for breaking rules 1-4 is forty-five lashes with Nyx's Night Whip, and the punishment for rule 5 was already stated: death.

Percy had never broken any of the rules during his time here, with the exception being his first week here when he accidently looked at Lady Selene in the eye. He had been chained to the obsidian walls of the throne room while all of Pontus's generals relished in his screams as Lady Nyx whipped him with a whip that was more painful than all the Furies and Kampe's combined. His back was littered with those scars now, but they had faded over time.

He had seen others break the rules before: talking back defiantly, leaving their barracks at night, but he had seen far too many traitors in their midst. Executions were bi-weekly with new traitors always popping up, spilling their limited intel to the Olympians. Their information died with them, and Erebus made sure their souls were sent to Tartarus, so that Hades or his son, Nico di Angelo, could never interrogate them.

Nico di Angelo.

Again a wave of anger coursed through his body, and his senses opened up, making it seem like the strike Kronos thrusted was moving at the speed of a dying snail. Percy feinted a blow exceptionally fast to Kronos's injured arm, but by the time his grandfather fell for the trick, Riptide was already halfway into the Titan's abdomen as Percy wrenched his scythe out of his hand, placing a booted foot on his wrist, making sure he wouldn't summon the weapon back to his hand. He yanked an ichor covered Riptide out of Kronos, eliciting a painful shout from the body bleeding on the floor.

Percy pressed the tip of Riptide to the Titan's Adam's apple. "Do you yield?" he asked emotionlessly, almost like the fight had bored him. In reality, it was probably the most invigorating thing he had done all day, but he knew if he acted cocky or self-centered, it would almost certainly meant he would be at the receiving end of Nyx's whip.

Kronos gave a watery laugh, spitting ichor on the floor beside him. "I yield, Grandson."

Percy nodded his head in acknowledgement, cleaning the ichor off with the sole of his boot. He capped his sword, shoving the pen in the pockets of his military issued clothing: Black training shirt, gray cargo pants, black combat boots, and a black windbreaker. A silver medallion hung from the pocket his jacket had-a medal he had received for saving over twenty soldiers from an enemy attack, including one of Hecate and Helios's kids.

Pontus had said he was one of the finest heroes his army had to offer, and immediately thrust him into training to be one of his generals, but not like the other demigod and demi-titan children generals. No, Pontus offered him to be one of his generals, ranking higher than all the gods and Titans he had recruited, only answering to him and his wife, Thalassa. He couldn't turn down the offer, so he graciously accepted. That had been about two months ago, leading up to the situation he was currently in.

"Are you going to help me up, or are you too prideful?" Kronos questioned, cocking an eyebrow upward-a strange expression for Luke's face.

"Not at all, Lord," Percy replied automatically, avoiding his gaze as he helped his Titan grandfather to his feet. He flinched violently when he felt an ice cold hand slapped him across the face. He staggered back, holding his injured cheek, but not daring to look up into Kronos' cold glare.

"Look me in the eyes, _boy."_ Percy looked up slowly, still rubbing small circles on his cheek, but the pain was already ebbing away. "We have been at this long enough. You should know how to properly address me, and you know you can look me in the eyes without my permission." Percy felt his gaze soften from steel to stone. "You know how Lord Pontus will react if he continues seeing these habits in you."

"I know, L-" He stopped himself mid-sentence at the pointed look Kronos was giving him. "Kronos. I'm still trying. Three months' worth of discipline and that one week of torture is enough to make anyone succumb to the fear."

"But not you. I've never seen you afraid. In pain and agony, yes, but never fear."

"I must have a better mask than I thought."

"Mask?" Kronos questioned, narrowing his eyes. "Have you been hiding something from us, Perseus?"

"Nothing of importance. Nightmares, past memories, those kinds of things," Percy replied, walking over to his fallen brother. He picked the god up, and hefted him onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "They terrify me; they're the reason nothing scares me other than the generals and my Lord and Lady."

Kronos seemed placated with his answer, even going so far as to give him a grin that wasn't malicious nor sadistic. It was almost like a smug expression, but again, Percy didn't question his superiors, even if he technically was above Kronos in power now.

"Selene won't be happy to see him again," Kronos said, nodding his direction of the body around Percy's shoulders.

"No kidding," Percy scoffed. "I've already lost count of the amount of times we've taken him to the infirmary this week alone."

"At least it's not as bad as Perses."

"Oh, if anything, Perses is _worse_ than this dumbo."

Kronos gave him an amused look, one that Percy just brushed off. He had gotten used to that expression on his grandfather's face. That and the look that said, "You-have-five-seconds-to-run-or-I'm-tearing-you-to-shreds."

"I agree with you on that. It's a wonder Pontus hasn't thrown him to the Void yet."

Percy stopped walking, turning to him in confusion. "What has he done to warrant such a fate? Yes, he's an idiot with an over-inflated ego and has a fuse the size of a grain of rice, but surely no one deserves _that_."

"Why do you stick up for him? He's been nothing but rude to you, more so after you gained your new positon."

It was hard to shrug with Triton's weight slowly slowing him down as they continued walking down the twisting corridors inside of the palace at the bottom of the ocean. At least someone was with him if he dropped the god instead of having to haul his immortal ass all the way to Selene, who was four floors above them in the infirmary. Thank the gods Pontus had enough knowledge of the modern world to install elevators on each of the floors.

"I…don't know," Percy answered truthfully, releasing a painful grunt as one of Triton's hands smacked him in the face, hitting an already forming bruise, while brushing by his split lip. Yeah, those two _friends_ of his loved using him as a human punching bag, that is, until he started to fight back. "It just seems…" he struggled for the right word, before saying, "wrong to leave someone like that. To have your atoms ripped to shreds, without even a semblance of hope that you'd get to come back. What do you think?"

"He's a bastard. He deserves what's coming to him."

Once again, Percy shrugged off the dark tone in Kronos's voice. He didn't see what was so scary about the guy, unless you count being frozen in time or him wielding his scythe (which he still called Backbiter) terrifying. Eh…maybe to others, but not to him anymore.

The sound of a gong banging echoed through the empty corridors, save for the two of them. Guards that had been hiding throughout the palace leapt from their crevices, hustling down the long stretch of hallways to the spiral staircases, where they would ascend to the throne room eight floors above, prepared to risk their lives for the royal family.

"Damn it!" Percy swore, causing Triton to unceremoniously drop to the floor, moaning.

The guards parted around him like a rock in a riverbed, following their route upstairs. Kronos gruffly grabbed two of the last guards by the shafts of their spears, nearly slamming them into the wall, smashing a mirror that had been hanging there in the process. Glass shards littered the floor beneath their feet as the two guards were shaking so badly in their armor, it looked like they were going to need a change of underwear.

"Why did none of you stop to help your general?!" Kronos roared, knocking all the air out of the male guard.

Percy internally winced as the guard couched uncontrollably, trying to regain the ability to breathe. He berated himself for feeling sympathy for these pathetic excuse of guards. Pontus would have his hide whipped if he wasn't ruthless; but he couldn't make himself feel hostile towards them. These two Kronos had practically taken hostage were two children, probably no older than fourteen. The girl had wide purple eyes and black hair with a streak of blue dye. Her bottom lip quivering was the only sign that she was afraid, but other than that, nothing gave her away. The boy on the other hand was trembling like crazy, wholly terrified of the Titan King.

"Go to meet our Lord," said Percy, tapping Kronos on the shoulder, pulling a sadistic smile on his face. "I'll deal with these two."

For two seconds Kronos stood there, uncertainty glimmering in his gold eyes, before rushing behind the torrent of guards, screaming at them to get the hell out of his way unless they wanted to be gutted like a fish with his scythe. Let's say the guards scattered immediately.

"Please don't hurt us!" The girl pleaded, her blue eyes shining with fear she hadn't allowed herself to show with Kronos. Wait, blue eyes? Weren't they just purple?

"Tell me who you are, and I may be able to spare you." Percy looked from side to side, glad that they were alone. If he got caught sparring these two, he would most certainly be punished.

"I-I'm Andy, daughter of Ariana," the girl said shakily, her brown eyes swirling with concern. What the hell was going on with her eyes?! First they were purple, then blue, and now brown?!

"Olly, son of Iris."

Percy wondered why a child of Iris was allowed in such an elite army, but after he saw some of the other Iris kids fight, he could understand why he was allowed in. But honestly, he had no idea who in Pontus's name Ariana was.

"My mother is one of the _minor_ , minor goddesses," Andy admitted, lowering her eyes. "Goddess of colors and emotions."

"I thought Iris was the goddess of colors."

"Nah, my mom's just goddess of rainbows," Olly supplied, still wheezing from getting punched.

Percy held up his hand. "That's all I need to know. Now, get this idiot to Selene before Kronos realizes I didn't hurt you like I should have."

"Thank you milord," both said graciously, moving quickly to lug the fallen god to the infirmary.

Percy ran a hand through his hair, sighing, before he vapor traveled to the throne room, slightly interested in what caused Pontus to sound the alarms, and completely dreading the strategy meeting that was inevitably going to be held afterwards.

* * *

Andy slumped in relief the second the door to her barracks shut, the familiar sound of the trumpets blaring "Taps" on the speakers. She didn't know who played the song, but it must've been someone who poured their soul into their music, a child of Apollo or Calliope perhaps? She sat on her bunk, mumbling the words under her breath:

"Day is done, gone the sun,  
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;  
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,  
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.  
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,  
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, 'neath the sky;  
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,  
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds  
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,  
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,  
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend."

No one in her barrack other than she knew the complete poem. And it wasn't something she freely spoke about. The first time she had ever heard the song had been at her father's funeral, with his casket draped with an American flag, his military medals displayed in front of the portrait that was per the norm at military funerals. **(A/N: To those of you that have family members in the service or who have died, I apologize if any of this is inaccurate as I have never had anyone from my family in the military.)** The man that had played the song was her father's best friend. Tears had streamed down his face while he played the mournful tune, and she remembered how badly she had sobbed in front of his casket, praying that he would bang on the inside, screaming that he had been buried alive…but she knew in her heart he was dead. He had taken two rounds of assault rifle shots, which should've killed him instantly, but yet he managed to get his entire squad out of there, alive, until he immediately collapsed from his wounds.

Thomas, her father's best friend, had heard his last words, which he passed onto Andy when he got the chance. "'Tell her to keep on living, to move past my death. She's so strong. Take…take care of her…please. Protect…my…Andy.' And then his hand went slack, the bullets killing him. I'm surprised he didn't die sooner. Must've been magic or something." Thomas laughed without humor at that, clapping Andy on the shoulder once, before leaving her to converse with the people her father, Lincoln, had died trying to defend.

Only after monsters had ripped Thomas apart in their small apartment and a satyr escorted her to Camp Half-Blood, had she realized that the reason her father didn't instantly drop dead was that her mother had blesses her father with a few more seconds of strength and courage, giving him enough time to save his comrades. She could've bought him time, but she couldn't save him.

Andy snapped out of her dark thoughts when a gruff, "Lights out!" was shouted through the door of the barracks. It's not like they had much of a choice anyways; the warden controlled the power, not them.

The hum of the lights died instantly, and everyone in the barrack (which was about ten people, boys and girls) went deathly silent. After a few minutes of pure silence and the sound of snoring softly drifting in through the little square, barred window through the door, they all gave a nearly imperceptible sigh of relief.

The boy in the bunk across from Andy mouthed two words: "Your turn."

She nodded her head in understanding, brushing her hand by her wrist watch. She checked once more that the warden was still sleeping, before opening the compartment, almost like a gadget out of those spy movies.

"Chiron, are you there?" Andy whispered silently. Her barrack was completely full of spies for the gods, yet Pontus didn't seem to suspect a thing. They made sounds of sleeping loud enough so she could talk, but not so loud that she wouldn't be able to hear Chiron. "I've got information on Percy Jackson. He's alive."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Holy Hera! 68 views already?! Sparks, you're amazing! And thanks to the 2 followers, favorites, and reviews I've gotten! Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own it...**

* * *

Nico had a rude awakening that night, with Annabeth practically grabbing him by the ankles out of bed, letting his head slam against the wooden floor, before beginning to drag him out of his cabin and in the direction of the Big House. His head throbbed with a dull ache, but with a single kick of his legs, Annabeth immediately let go, his lower half landing in the damp grass with a gentle _thud._

"Get up!" she hissed. "Come on, di Angelo!" Annabeth reached for his wrists, pulling him to his feet, before once again beginning to drag him like a toddler.

Nico wrenched his wrist free from her grasp, rubbing the gently. That girl had a grip like iron. He rolled his wrist around a few times, checking that she hadn't shattered any of the bones with her uncanny strength. Immortality was working for her as well.

"What do you want?" he asked back, venom tainting his voice. It was a well-known fact you did not simply wake up Nico di Angelo and expect to see the next sunrise. If you were that stupid, might as well tattoo the words "Kill Me" on your forehead. "I was actually able to sleep tonight."

And that was his second problem. He didn't have insomnia or anything else that would give him trouble to fall asleep, no, it was once he was asleep that the problems began. Nightmares, visions of Tartarus, that one male voice that seemed persistent on invading Nico's subconscious 24 hours a day, piercing his mind like a knife. Whoever this guy was, he always spoke about making deals, but for what, Nico had no idea. That voice had been haunting his sleep for the past few days, and tonight the voice had finally gone silent.

"They found him!" The excitement in her voice was unmistakable, but Nico's mind was still too muddled with sleep to make any clear, coherent thought.

"Whom?"

Annabeth gave him a look with her piercing gray eyes, a look that said it all, "How stupid are you, really? This better be the fact that you're tired, or I'll smack you so hard that you'll be standing in front of your father."

"Ugh, this is why I hate people in the mornings and at night," she muttered to herself, shaking her head in the dark. The only reason Nico could see her at all in the darkness of the night was her blonde hair, which the light from some of the torches the cabins had, glinting off her curls.

Nico grumbled something to himself about night owls, only concentrating hard enough to not face plant into the dirt by tripping over his feet or some other embarrassing way. His clothes were slightly damp and caked with dirt from being dragged around, the coldness sent a slight chill up his spine, helping to wake him up a little.

Once they entered the Big House, Nico's senses were overloaded with people screaming and crying and cheering, along with the vibrant colors of people in their pajamas or those that were wearing their armor from guard duty. Someone must've alerted Dionysus of a party, because Nico smelled the fruity scent of wine in the air, along with other kinds of alcohol for the older campers. He wondered who could be so important that alcohol was allowed in a celebration for finding them.

Off in the corner was a couple furiously making out, red plastic cups in their hands, and Nico instantly knew both had hit the happy juice a little too hard that night. This seemed to be more of a party than anything serious, but once again, Annabeth grabbed his hand, dragging him through the mess of bodies.

And then someone started up the music. The most popular songs on the radio started blaring through speakers that Nico didn't even know the Big House had. If the scent of alcohol hadn't woken him up, the loud music definitely did.

"Follow me!" Annabeth shouted over the music, shoving people out of her way with her shoulders, scowling at them for blocking the path. She raced up the stairs to the second floor, and Nico followed behind her, right on her heels.

They stopped in front of the door leading into Chiron's office, which coincidentally had a horseshoe hanging off a nail. He wondered if that was a joke or if Chiron genuinely liked having it there, seeing as he wasn't too fond of the stables.

"His office?" Nico asked. At least up here the ruckus from below wasn't that bad. But he could've sworn he heard someone scream, "PUT SEYMOR BACK ON THE WALL!" Oh well.

Annabeth nodded, opening the door for him, before shutting it behind her. "Sorry for the abrupt wakeup call," she apologized, brushing some of the dirt off his shoulder. "But this is extremely urgent."

"I hope you didn't wake me up for the party downstairs," said Nico darkly, still upset over being yanked from one of his good nights.

"Party?" Chiron chimed in from his wheelchair. "What party?"

"You don't hear the music?" Will asked incredulously. "Seriously, it's a wonder the campers down there haven't gone deaf yet."

When Will spoke, Nico glanced over the room, seeing who else was there. Will and Chiron were there of course, along with Bianca carving something into her bow; Annabeth, who took a seat next to the centaur; Jason and Piper, who were sitting on the couch, holding hands; Frank, Hazel, and Reyna were in an Iris message, looking in with shared looks of concern on their faces; and Leo and Calypso, who were present via a Skype on Chiron's laptop, which Leo had monster-proofed before he left to show his girlfriend the world.

"Good, you're all present, in one way or another," Chiron said in a slightly amused tone, smiling.

"It's nearly two in the morning!" Hazel exclaimed, biting her lip from her outburst. Nico looked at her in shock. His sister had changed more than he thought. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Wow Haze, you just got sassy!" Leo said mischievously, smirking. Calypso smacked his arm affectionately, but just sighed at his antics.

"Ms. Levesque, Mr. Valdez, let's please focus on the matter at hand. Thank you."

"Sorry, Chiron," they both apologized.

"That's quite all right, dears, it's late. Now, this has been something I have been sworn to secrecy ever since I found about it almost two millennia ago."

Nico watched as Annabeth's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "You've _never_ kept secrets from me. Even during the Titan and Giant war you told me everything, minus the Camp Jupiter thing!"

"Annabeth, realize that there are many things I'm forbidden to talk about. Those are one of the setbacks of being immortal, but all these secrets are for the betterment of everyone."

"Sure," Annabeth scoffed, taking a seat next to Bianca, crossing her legs and arms as she huffed in anger.

Chiron rolled his eyes at her behavior, but Nico knew Chiron was like a father to Annabeth, and she hated being kept in the dark about anything. He remembered when a few years ago she had come back from a mission with mud painted over her eyelids and began grilling Chiron on everything he knew about Egypt. He had no idea what that was about.

"So, why'd you call us here?" Nico asked, moving to lean against the wall, unless he wanted to fall asleep in a seat. The last time he had been in a meeting in the middle of the night, he had started to doze off five minutes in, and by the eight minute mark he was completely out of it. Clarisse had had to scream in his ear to finally wake him up.

"I was about to get that," Chiron told them all, before running a hand through his graying hair. "The Olympians have always had a small special ops force that work undercover for them during exceedingly dangerous times, such as the war with Kronos."

"And how come we've never heard of them before?" Reyna asked, giving a slight scowl through the IM.

"When I say small, I mean about ten demigods strong. They are typically children of minor gods and goddesses, as they can slip in through most situations virtually undetected until the damage is done. On Olympus, there have been rumors of another Primordial having awoken around the time of Gaea's rising, and that they're recruiting demigods and demi-titans to their cause."

There was a collective groan at that. They were just about to make it to the two year mark of not having to fight in a war for the Olympians, but now it appeared like they were going to fight again.

Nico wanted to go bash his head into a wall. He had been in wars his entire life: he was alive during World War II, he was twelve when he was fighting against Kronos, and he was fourteen when he was fighting against Gaea. The only time he could truly claim he had been at peace was when he was in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where he was basically mind-controlled to not have a care in the world and play fun games as seventy years in the real world rushed by in what seemed to be only months.

"And now the Olympians want us to fight?" Piper asked from her seat on the couch. "We're not restrained by the Ancient Laws as we're only partially immortal, but are they really going to send us to the front lines?"

"I hope not," Will said. "I'm still a healer, not a fighter. Put me on the front lines, and I'll be in Elysium again before you can say 'Charge.'"

Chiron grimaced at the fact that Will had again, emphasizing the fact that he and Annabeth _had_ died before, and now they were supposed to put their necks on the line again. Well, they had all put their lines on the neck before, Nico thought, so how was this time supposed to be any different?

"Slowly," Chiron continued, "the ops entered the enemy's army, but no one knows how or where they are. As you all know, we've heard rumors about…" Chiron faltered, glancing upwards at Nico, as if scared of his reaction to the news.

"Out with it, Chiron," Nico said sternly, tilting his head back against the wall, looking at the ceiling.

"One of the ops contacted me, Nico. Percy's alive and well, just at the hands of the enemy."

The reactions were immediate, from people crying tears of joy and relief, to stupid smiles that threatened to rip faces in half, to straight up laughing-but Nico was none of those. If anything, he didn't even react. His expression was completely neutral, but in his mind, his thoughts were whirling around like a maelstrom.

 _He's alive? Why didn't he contact me? Why didn't he even_ try _to let me know he's alive? Is he okay? What has he been doing all this time? I'm going to kill him for disappearing on me, again. Ugh, why couldn't my love life ever be easy?_

Nico felt tears burning in the back of his eyes, but he blinked them away. He should've been happy at the prospect that his boyfriend was alive, like the rumors had said, but any possible joy was instantly extinguished by the sole fact that Percy was at the mercy of whoever was trying to take over Olympus, again.

Nico looked at his friends, all happy and cheering and crying, and fondly shook his head. He loved these idiots, but they couldn't see past the fact that Percy was alive. And though he was ecstatic, he was already thinking up ideas on how to get Percy's dumb ass out of there. Nico allowed himself to smile, before leaving the office, fully prepared to start planning his boyfriend's escape.

* * *

Vicky walked at a leisurely pace around Central Park, enjoying some of the scenery, while simultaneously wanting to brain all the mortals that had their phones out, playing their stupid Pokémon go! game instead of actually enjoying the night. It wasn't like they had that much free time left anyway. **(A/N: No offense to those of you who actually play the game, but I heard about this on the news and just** ** _had_** **to put that in here. Sorry, again)** She nearly punched a guy's lights out for running right into her, then picking himself up and scrambling off to find the next Pokémon that was in the park.

She glanced down at her watch, which was a simple, blue Swatch with its only design being a droplet of water carved into the back, where the battery resided. Other than that, you would've never known the watch was anything out of the ordinary. But to her, it was the only thing marking her as one of Pontus' soldiers. Without it, she wouldn't be able to make the delivery.

She looked around, sighing slightly as people continued to stare at nature through their phones, and turned right at the corner where a little café was situated, although at this time of night was all locked up. A hot breeze blew through the park, causing for Vicky to take off her flannel button-up, leaving her only with a slightly revealing tank top. Hopefully she would be meeting with a female, not one of those hormonal flesh-bags, otherwise known as men.

Vicky took a seat at one of the benches near the café, under an arch of leaves flowering with purple orchids. She plucked one, fingering the petals gently, before crushing them in her hands, staining her fingertips with a purple powder. As she went to reach for another one, she heard someone clear their throat.

Instinctively, she stood up and kneeled, keeping her head down in case it was a superior that had come instead of one of the foot soldiers she had gotten used to. Vicky kept her gaze on her boots, perfectly laced up as she had been taught, waiting for any sign that she could look up. Instead, she heard laughter.

Tentatively, she looked up, but still didn't look higher than the person's chest. By that single glance, she immediately knew she was speaking with a male, perhaps one of the generals even.

"Milord?" Vicky asked hesitantly, cowering at the sound of her own voice. She knew it was against the rules to speak out without permission.

The laughter ceased. "Look at me, girl," a man's voice said coldly.

 _Please don't be Kronos or Perses,_ Vicky thought to herself, before raising her eyes to the general that had spoken. Much to her relief, it wasn't either of the Titan's she had thought, instead it was someone she knew extremely well. He was her uncle, after all.

"My apologies, Percy." She rose to her feet, keeping her gaze level as to not show weakness. Even though Percy had begun to grow fond of her, he wouldn't hesitate to point out all the flaws in her posture and position, claiming her to be weak. She couldn't allow that, especially when she was working at the right hand of Pontus. She did _not_ want to spend time in Thalassa's torture chamber.

"Relax, my dear," Percy said jovially, affectionately touching her shoulder.

Vicky stiffened under his touch, only relaxing slightly, while slowly reaching for the charm around her neck. It was a trident pendant that would transform into a bow or sword depending on the way she touched it. Her sword was already out by the time Percy had tried to amputate her arm.

"Good. Never relax, even when you're with people you trust. Follow me." Percy nodded his head to a triangular bush that was shut off on every side, except for a small part of one, which had a waterfall closing off the area inside. **(A/N: Kind of like the bush in** ** _The Giver)_** He went through the waterfall, and Vicky quickly followed, not wanting to catch the attentions from one of the mortals. Then again, it wasn't like they were paying attention to her anyways in the first place.

She was going to break a number of phones in the nearby future.

"Permission to speak?" she asked, squeezing droplets of water out of her flannel over-shirt. Even though she was a daughter of Triton, she was still learning on how to dry things once wet instead of just attempting to stay dry.

"Granted," Percy said, leaning against one of the sides casually. His silver medal gleamed against his black jacket in the moonlight. A new medal adorned his jacket too, a golden circle with a teardrop shape engraved into it-the symbol of Pontus. He had finally achieved general status.

"We have a spy in our midst, General. I followed that son of Hades, the one with the name I can't speak, with that daughter of Athena, Annabeth, to the Big House after hearing rumors being spread that you were alive."

"That's impossible. Everything was in place, making the foolish Olympians believe I had passed. Hell, I even had a small portion of my soul roam around the Underworld for a while!"

Vicky held her hands in a placating manner. "I have no idea, General. Anyhow, I listened in on their conversation with Chiron, along with the other heroes of the prophecy, including Will Solace and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano for some peculiar reason. Apparently, Olympus has a special ops program that's ten demigods strong, and the ten have infiltrated our ranks. One of them contacted Chiron yesterday, saying they saw you alive."

The expression on Percy's face was one of pure fury. His eyes swirled with power, and the little waterfall had begun to batter the sides of the bush, and occasionally splashing the both of them as well. He breathed deep breaths for three heartbeats, before adopting an expressionless mask, like the soldier Vicky had gotten used to seeing.

"I believe I have an execution or two to set up for the week," Percy said coldly, still slightly trembling. Vicky carefully patted him on the shoulder, trying for what she hoped to be a reassuring smile. She must've succeeded, for her relaxed under her touch, but not enough to be caught off guard should the need arise for him to fight. "Go back to camp, Niece. You will be rewarded greatly for your deeds, I promise you."

She bowed her head. "Just helping out is reward enough."

He chuckled. "You're beginning to sound like me, Vicky. Be careful when you're with the campers, understand? I trusted them once, and look where that got me. Don't trust anyone but yourself."

Vicky nodded once. "I understand, General."

"Please, you've earned enough respect from me to call me Percy, or even Uncle, if you wish. You only need to be formal around Pontus."

It was good to know they both agreed on that. She hugged her uncle tightly, before flattening herself against the bush, his blade nearly entering her abdomen. They broke off laughing, only to be silenced by a deafening roar. Seriously? Vicky had believed that Pontus had an agreement with Tartarus, but she guessed not.

Beside her, Percy rolled his eyes, pulling on his general's helm over his eyes. His clothes had transformed into his ornate armor of Imperial gold and sapphire that Pontus had enchanted to withstand against most monsters. Vicky tapped her watch twice, and her own set of armor appeared on her body. Hecate had taught her how to enchant things into ordinary objects, much like her weapons. She twisted the pendant clockwise, and her bow appeared in hand. She nodded in his direction, passing under the waterfall without a sound.

Vicky began scouting around the bush, only to run into another Pokémon go! player. With the recurve of her bow, she smashed it against the girl's temples, smashing her phone with the heel of her boot at the same time. Percy gave her a questioning look, which she brushed off as she ducked under the cover of another floral arch.

The creature roared again, to which all the mortals rushed to, making her want to groan at their stupidity. Luckily, Percy waved his hand across the general direction, eliciting a ripple to cut through the air. All the mortals that slammed into the ripple passed out instantly-it had been a sleep spell. She wondered who had taught him that, either Hecate, Erebus, or Nyx.

She mouthed "Thank you" over her shoulder, stepping over another fallen mortal, careful not to step on their face. Vicky remembered the direction of which the roar had come from, and sprinted off in that direction, heading back towards the entrance she had entered from. This time, she let the groan escape her lips when she realized what monster had been the one to go rogue: the Minotaur.

Vicky nocked an arrow patiently, letting the bull-man charge past her from where she had previously been standing. Her arrow flew true, piercing the Minotaur in the chest, right where the heart was. But he was too big for a single arrow to kill. She felt Percy's appraising eyes boring into the back of her skull, judging her in combat. Vicky nocked two arrows this time instead of one and aimed for the beast's eyes.

"Hey, Red Bull, over here!" taunted Vicky, pulling the string back as the monster stupidly charged again. She rolled under his meaty arm, which reeked of rotten meat and wet dog, causing her to gag at the scent. She released her arrows, hitting the Minotaur in the back of the head, imbedding into his skull. Not the eyes, but it was still something she could work with. She continued shooting at his hide, until one arrow landed in what she guessed could've been called his butt cheeks, causing for him to roar in anger.

Once more, the Minotaur charged, to which Vicky calmly waited as he grew closer. At the last second, she jumped upwards, swinging her bow around his neck and pulling hard on the frame, causing for the string to begin to bite into the flesh. He tried to buck her off, but her grip was like steel: unflinching and unmoving. She released a hand, forcing her to ride the Minotaur cowgirl style, as she reached for her pendant again. Vicky turned the charm counter-clockwise, and her bow transformed into her sword. Where the string had been was now her blade, which she brought upwards with all her strength, cutting through muscle and fur and sinew, decapitating the Minotaur's head.

The head rolled off as the body began to disintegrate into golden dust. Vicky brushed the dust off her shoulder, tapping her watch and pendant twice as both her weapon and armor transformed back into their everyday objects. She walked over to the head, kicking it like a soccer ball into the nearest tree, causing it to crumble into dust from the force of impact. Only the horns were left to retrieve. She picked both of the pointed horns up, tucking them under her arm, and walking back to the tree where Percy had been waiting the entire time for her.

He was grinning like an idiot, his green eyes alight with happiness. "You did a fantastic job, Vicky!" he praised, hugging her tightly, not even attempting to cause her bodily harm in anyway. "I should've taken some pointers from you the last two times I tangoed with him."

"You've fought the Minotaur before?" Vicky asked, her eyes wide, and her mouth hanging open.

"Twice. Once when I was twelve, and the second time when I was sixteen. I wish he would've been that fearful of me, but oh well. Next time he reforms I'll hunt him down and scare the fur off of him for betraying our master." Percy smiled down at Vicky, before ruffling her hair fondly. "I should get going. Let me know immediately if our position is compromised, alright?"

"Of course, Percy."

He went to vapor travel back to base (which was so unfair in her opinion; she couldn't vapor travel yet!), but paused, looking back at her one more time. "You're so mature for your age, you know that? You're only eleven, yet you have more discipline than some of the twenty-year-olds we have recruited."

"I appreciate the compliment, Percy," Vicky said with a small smile, "but you really should be going. We don't want any unnecessary attention drawn to you."

"See, right there, maturity. I'll see if I can assign you to a better mission instead of here, but I'll need to speak with _him_ first."

"Thank you. Now go!" She thrust one of the Minotaur horns into his hands, and she smiled the entire time until he finally disappeared, leaving her the only one awake in Central Park, full of sleeping people mumbling things about Pokémon in their sleep.

Her smile quickly vanished, replaced by a look of pure mischief as she hefted the Minotaur horn and began to smash phones.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm still open to doing a Q &A if you guys want, just leave a question. If I get enough, I'll answer them all, but if I don't get any, I just won't do anything. Thanks for readings, Sparks! Leave a review if you liked, or if you didn't, let me know what I can do to improve. But please, no flames! See ya next chapter! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi guys! Again, I apologize if I offended anyone with how I treated Pokémon go! in the last chapter. I haven't done the reading of any reviews, so I'll do that now.**

 **bobandsmallbob-I like it-keep up the good work!/Aw, thanks!**

 **BlackIce8812-I love the first story you did, and this one is just as good. Keep writing man you are doing great. P.S. Love the Percy Nico pairing, very interesting./ I appreciate that! And if you want to read more PercyXNico stories, search up the author Takara Phoenix. She's an amazing author and loves to write about this pairing**

 **weezergeek-This is probably one of the best fanfics I've read so far. I completely drained the first one in a day and half. Can't wait for more! :)/I can't wait to keep writing! Good to know you like my story!**

 **Ms. Chenandler Bong-I loved the first part and I think I'm loving this one. You haven't dissapointed yet, although you could have done with less Pokemon Go hating, Pokemon was my childhood and this is a dream come true for me. Thanks!/Yeah, apologies again about the Pokémon thing. It's just my family doesn't like it, while I'm the one that feels indifferent. And thanks for sticking through my first story!**

 **pizzacato-Can you go a little deeper into the dynamic between Percy annabeth nico and will because it was poorly explained to me in this? Also when are you posting again?/I go deeper into the dynamic in this chapter, at least I feel like I did; I don't know how you might feel about it. As for a posting schedule, to put it simply, I don't have one. Whenever the next chapter is done, I'll update.**

 **Ok, that was it for reviews! Again, you guys are awesome! Please enjoy this chapter!**

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Three days after his meeting with Vicky back in Central Park, Percy found himself pacing impatiently back and forth in front of the throne room doors. The only sound other than the clicking of his boots on the floor was a faint sizzling sound that was emitted from the lava flowing in the cracks of the doors and walls. The two guards outside the door would periodically give him a wary look before looking straight once more.

The medallions on his jacket seemed to weigh him down with the pressure of him having to uphold the image of a general, yet he couldn't seem to stay still, his ADHD starting to get the better of him.

Percy ran a hand through his untidy hair, which he had tried and failed to slick back already, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few notecards. It wasn't like he had a speech planned; no, the cards were of people he suspected who may have betrayed them with their barrack number and some general information. He looked over the cards once more, until the door swiveled open silently, showing Pontus and Thalassa in their thrones, awaiting him.

He entered, before bowing low in front of his master and mistress. Pontus told him to rise, but he still didn't meet the immortal's eyes, focusing on the crackling of the lava in their obsidian thrones instead.

"Speak, Perseus. You know you have permission to speak and look me in the eye now that you're a general," Pontus told him reassuringly.

"Thank you, milord," Percy said, inclining his head in a bow once more. For as disrespectful as he was to a lot of other people, he wouldn't even dream of talking back to Pontus. "Considering you let me hold this convention, you must've gotten my letter."

"We did," Thalassa said, grabbing Pontus's hand from her throne. She gave him a pearly white smile, but even so, Percy still didn't fully trust either one of them. Why should he? He still had no idea how he ended up here other than what he was told about Poseidon and Nico selling him off. But something seemed wrong with their story. Either way, he accepted it and moved on.

"Vicky has informed me that we have ten spies in our army, who are special ops for the Olympians." Percy spit out the last word like it was poison, but bit his lip and regained his composure. "And one of these spies have let it leak that I'm here."

Pontus' eyes shone with fury, sending shivers down Percy's spine. For as calm as he could be, whenever he was angry and his piercing blue eyes caught a hold of his prey…no one wanted to be within a ten-mile radius of that explosion, including many of the Titans and Thalassa themselves who were all frightened. He appeared to be crushing the armrest of his throne in one hand, while Thalassa attempted to free her own hand from her husband's vice-like grip.

"And what do you propose we do, Perseus?" Pontus asked, his voice laced with anger and frustration. Thalassa tried in vain to calm him down by rubbing circles on his back, to which he just shrugged her off.

Percy swallowed a lump in the back of his throat. If Thalassa couldn't calm down her raging husband, what was Percy supposed to do when he was only borderline liked by both the protogenoi's? Suddenly the cards in his jacket seemed to be such a ridiculous idea. There was a very likely chance that one of his assumptions would be wrong, meaning a person would be wrongly executed, and once his mistake was found out, he'd be whipped.

"Cameras," Percy said suddenly.

"Cameras?" Pontus repeated in a condescending tone. "That's the best you have to offer me? _Cameras?"_

"Think about it, milord. If we put microscopic cameras in the barracks, training areas, and just microphones in the bathroom, we'll be able to weed out the spies."

"That's actually not a bad idea, sweetheart," Thalassa said kindly. "We could even have young Perseus here watch the cameras, to see if anything comes up."

"No, Perseus is a general, he must be on the front lines with me and my other generals when the time is right." Pontus gave Percy a look-over, before tutting at him. "Perseus, we seem to be at a crossroads. What do you believe we should do?"

"Put the cameras in while everyone's sleeping tonight, and to make sure no one's up, have Nyx and Erebus send some heavy dreams their way. As for who is to watch the cameras, I'd be more than willing to do it, but you could always keep whomever you trust the least right under your thumb," Percy sagely said. "Of course, these are just suggestions, and I'm sure anything you two might have to offer is superior to what I have said."

"A moment," said Pontus, holding his hand up. Percy bowed and walked to the entrance of the throne room, waiting beside the doors. He was out of earshot, yet close enough to defend them should another intruder break in.

Four days ago, there had been a failed assassination attempt on Nyx's life while she and Pontus had been in a meeting. That had been the reason the alarms were blaring the day he, Kronos, and Triton were sparring, before having to leave Triton in the infirmary. One of the demigods (a daughter of Nike, he believed), had snuck into the throne room, and shot Nyx with arrows dipped in the waters of the Five Rivers of the Underworld. Even if the arrows had only been dipped with four of the five rivers, Nyx would've survived, but the power of all five was so potent it could force even the most powerful protogenoi to fade into the Void.

Thankfully, Nyx had felt the intruder, and just barely missed getting shot through the heart with the girl's arrows. Pontus raised the alarms, and within minutes, the traitor was caught and executed right then and there. Her head now adorned the walls of the throne room, along with other heads from people that were traitors, and all shared a similar, gruesome feature: their faces would be forever frozen in fear, some even in mid-scream. But the absolute worst part was the portion of the brain stem, or sometimes parts of the actual brain, would hang out from the bottom of the neck, as no one bothered to mount the heads on anything other than the wall. It would fill the room with foul air, and as tough as Percy was, he always felt squeamish when he saw pink goo puddle underneath one of the heads. Thank Chaos for the cleaning staff.

Percy was pulled out of his macabre thoughts by the sound of Pontus clearing his throat. He walked back to the center of the throne room, looking up at his master for what he was to do next.

"We will implement your plan," Pontus said professionally, even giving Percy half a smile. "As for who will watch over them all, I believe that Perses would be a suitable candidate. Never really trusted him."

"Thank you for accepting my suggestion."

Pontus waved his gratitude off. "Go reward our little mouse, and off to training with you."

"As you wish." Percy bowed again, clicked his heels together, and walked out of the throne room like the soldier he was.

He looked at the little red box with a white ribbon tied around it with mild interest. He knew Vicky would be rewarded, but with what, he had no idea nor did he care. Pontus always knew how to graciously reward his soldiers. He shoved the box into the nearest shadow, sure that Vicky would receive her gift by the end of the day. With that, he wandered down the hallways back to his room, prepared to train.

* * *

"Nico?" someone asked, knocking on his door for what seemed like the millionth time.

And he replied with the same answer he had given already. "I'm busy!"

"Nico, you've got to open the door. You've been in there for over half the day! If you're not even the least bit hungry, I will force this down your throat!"

Nico groaned in exasperation, before quickly cleaning up the mess of papers on his desk, and flinging the door open only to find Will Solace with a plate loaded up with food outside his door. He groaned again, and went to slam the door shut. Instead, Will caught the door with his free hand and came in.

"It's so dark in here," Will commented, setting the plate of food down on Nico's now cleared desk.

"How I like it," Nico grumbled, whirling around in his wheelie chair to face the son of Apollo. Even though he and Annabeth had come back from being dead, they both respected the fact that they had moved on, letting Percy and Nico be together in peace. The four were still really close knit friends, and if anything Will and Annabeth had become like another brother and sister to him.

Will pointedly ignored him by opening the curtains, letting some of the noonday sunlight filter into the dark room. The light revealed just how much of a mess his cabin really was, with his black sheets thrown across the room, his dirty clothes everywhere except the hamper, and insane conspiracy theory maps tacked into his walls with pencil markings everywhere.

"Gods, what happened in here?"

"Me. Now, thanks for the food-"

"I'm not leaving, Nico," Will said sternly, taking a seat on the trunk at the foot of Nico's bed. He brushed a torn sheet of paper off the lid, before looking up at Nico, who looked like he was trying to escape. Which, in a way, he was.

He had already slipped on his aviator jacket and was in the process of lacing up his sneakers. He froze, looking up at Will, who was looking at him as if he was a child caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

Nico just sighed, slumping back into his chair, before poking at the food on the plate with his fork half-heartedly. Will had taken his doctor role again, but this time with Jason, to make sure that he was eating properly and not trying to do anything too radical. Like that one time he had recklessly jumped from the roof of his cabin to the one next door, and kept doing that until he had sprained his ankle from falling off the roof of the Dionysus cabin.

"There's no way I can fully eat this," Nico said, poking at the smoked brisket on his plate.

"You can, and you will," Will reprimanded. "At least eat until you feel full, then I'll stop."

"Fine."

The next thirty minutes was of Nico taking small bites of his food while Will just sat there, perfectly content with acting as his warden until half the plate was gone. Thankfully, Will didn't fight him to eat more, instead just giving him a smile and leaving, heading back to the infirmary.

 _That was weird,_ Nico thought to himself. _They always ask me how I'm doing, but not today. Oh well, it's nice to change things up._

He picked up the sheet of paper Will had discarded on the floor, and realized why Will had wanted to leave his cabin so soon. Nico never told anyone other than Bianca, Will, and Percy that he liked using art as a coping mechanism, and the paper had been one of his more morbid drawings. He had sketched an intricate picture of someone hanging themselves on one part of the paper; on another he drew how blood flows out of someone's arm with a bloodied razor blade off to the side; and he also had drawn a picture of a gun pointed at someone's head, with their finger on the trigger.

No, he hadn't ever done any of those things to himself (he was still alive, was he not? Though, he had been tempted to cut himself a couple of times), but he needed to relieve some of his pent up depression that fighting and sulking just wouldn't get rid of. So he had picked up his pencil and sketchbook, laying his feelings clearly out onto the paper. After Nico had realized what he had drawn, he had torn the page out, leaving it on his trunk where Will found it today.

Great. Just great.

Knowing Will, he was probably going to tell Jason, who in turn would tell Hazel, Frank, and Reyna, and it would all come full circle as they would try to talk him out of taking his life, even though _he wanted to live._

Why could nothing ever be simple for him? Sighing, Nico picked up his pencil and one of his marked up maps, and began planning again. All he needed was one lead, and he might be able to find Percy. That would be nice. And after he found Percy, he was going to take the two of them somewhere far away from the gods (but not Alaska) where they could finally have even a semblance of peace for once.

Content with his own fantasies, Nico began marking up his map, completely unaware of the set of blue eyes spying on him through the window.

* * *

Percy rolled to the side as a blade came swinging at his head, only for his foot to be wrapped up in a tight coil, which felt like acid was corroding his skin. He hissed in pain, slashing at Nyx's whip with one hunting knife, while dual-wielding the other, blocking an incoming blow to his side from Erebus.

The whip recoiled after he cut the cord, but the burning red mark around his ankle remained, stinging like he had just stepped into a wasp's nest, then walked into a puddle of acid. Erebus feinted a blow to Percy's left, which he fell for, causing for a gash to open up on his shoulder.

"You're not focused!" the primordial of shadows complained, easily landing another blow on his leg. "Pay attention, Perseus!"

Percy hissed in pain once more, but clenched his teeth, determined to take at least one of his trainers out of the fight. He saw Erebus swing at him once more, but at the last second dived to the side, letting his blade slash air. Percy felt an incoming projectile aimed at his back, and with one blade he stopped the dagger from stabbing him, while lunging and cutting Erebus on his upper thigh.

Nyx took her husband's place, becoming a flurry of blows, which Percy just barely managed to deflect. When she overstepped on a lunge, he took his chance and kicked her planted foot out from underneath her. He cut Nyx on the stomach with one knife, while holding his other one at her throat. Just as he went to ask her if she yielded, he had to whirl around and defend himself against Erebus once more.

Instead of being completely on the defense, he ran around Erebus, making the primordial turn around, before he vapor traveled in front of him, slamming the butt of his knife into Erebus's knee, sending him sprawling to the floor. He repeated the movement for Nyx, instead getting her in the back of the leg, also sending her to the floor.

Once he noticed that neither of his opponents could get up, he breathed a sigh of relief, combing his sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. Percy sheathed his hunting knives on his weapons belt, before pulling out some bandage wrap from the first-aid kit. He set their legs, before wrapping their knees with the thick bandages to keep their legs straight. He'd have to call Helios or Leto to help move them most likely.

"You both yield, right?" Percy asked, finishing tying the knot around Nyx's knee. He clipped the bandage with a huge bobby pin he had found, and so far it seemed to be working.

"We're not exactly fighting you right now," Erebus said dryly, to which Percy chuckled at. His ego had been bruised by losing to a demigod, so it wasn't surprising he might've been the least bit bitter.

"Just making sure you're not going to throw _daggers_ at my _back_ again," Percy said, looking pointedly at Nyx, to which she just smirked and shrugged.

"That's how it would be like in a real fight," Nyx told him, before trying to stand up on her own. She immediately crumpled back to the floor when she put a small portion of her weight on her bad leg.

Percy winced, and carefully helped them up onto chairs he had dragged into the middle of the training arena. He pulled out some ambrosia and handed it to his wounded trainers. He was going to need to be more careful while sparring, seeing as this was the third injury he had caused to a fellow general this week. Selene was going to have his hide.

Once they were all fixed up, Percy remembered he had his own injuries to attend to. Every step sent a jolt of pain up his leg, from where Nyx had curled her whip around his ankle. The skin there was an angry red color and bleeding profusely. He cursed, wrapping some of the thick bandage he had used on their legs around his ankle. The other injuries he had-the gashes on his shoulders and torso-could easily be healed by taking a shower.

A few minutes later, Selene graciously came to them with her brother Helios in tow. Together the both of them fully healed Erebus and Nyx's legs, while healing the rash around Percy's ankle as well.

"I might just start charging you," Selene said in a joking manner as she shut her medical kit. "Seriously, every day it's like you're sending someone new to see me. Start fighting automatons or something."

"He beats them too easily," Triton said, entering from his hidden position by the door. Even though Selene had fixed him up yesterday, an angry purple and green bruise decorated his face right below his eyes, where Percy had kicked him.

Again, Percy winced at the sight. He had been taught to not show any emotion on the battlefield, and while he wouldn't, everything he kept pent up during the fight would overwhelm him afterwards, especially the guilt. Percy learned to kill on sight without feeling an inkling of remorse, and he was rewarded for that. Something in his gut told him that something wasn't right here, that he shouldn't be here at all, with these people, yet his mind was berating him for thinking such traitorous thoughts.

 _What about Nico?_ A part of his brain asked him. He clenched his fists, mildly irritated.

 _No, he left me. He and Poseidon sold me off, and that's why I'm here,_ the other part of his brain thought.

 _Are you sure? If you're so confident that they sold you off, why can other soldiers keep in touch with their families but not you?_

 _I don't want to keep in touch with the people that treated me like a slave._

He could imagine another version of himself, like a mirror image, scoffing at his thoughts. _Think about this. You're only told parts of your story by the other generals. You have unanswered questions, which they'll whip you for if you ask._

 _Then it must not be important._

 _Sure…Keep doubting them. Act, but keep your distance._

It took him a while to realize that the voice in his mind no longer sounded like him, but it was more masculine and regal. Percy had no idea in the slightest who he was talking to.

 _What do you mean? Who are you?_

 _All will be answered in due time, Perseus. I just need you to believe me, okay? We'll get you back, I promise._

 _What? You're making no sense! Hello?_

But the voice was already gone, leaving Percy with more questions than answers. He ran his hand through his hair once more, not really paying attention to the conversation the immortals had become engrossed with. He hung his knives back on the weapon's wall, before leaving the arena, wanting nothing more than to take a hot shower and a nap.

* * *

His dreams haunted him. And it wasn't because he was having nightmares of Tartarus with that blonde girl that had been his companion dying someway or another. No, his dreams haunted him, because they were obviously memories of his past that for some reason he couldn't reach.

Most nights, Percy saw a boy with black hair, dark blue-black eyes, and olive skin smiling at him, pulling him close for a kiss. And his memory-self would kiss back eagerly, as if afraid he was going to lose the boy. The boy spoke words in a language Percy couldn't understand, but by the way he said them, it sounded affectionate.

Percy watched as the boy shivered violently in front of him, snow covering the field they were currently camping in. There was another figure nearby, poking a stick into the fire that had been going, but he couldn't identify the man. He wanted to hug the boy, wrap him in a huge, fluffy blanket, and give him a mug of hot chocolate to warm him up, but all he could do in the dream was watch as the boy fainted from the cold, his head hitting the log he had been sitting on.

He watched as his memory-self shook the fallen boy, begging for him to wake up. It was at this moment that Percy was never really sure if it was a memory or if he was just having a nightmare.

The boy quickly began to lose all color, and his lips took on a blue tinge. As much as Percy loved the color blue, he knew that nobody should have their core body temperature that low. The boy's breaths came out in rattling spurts, his breath forming clouds in the freezing air. The dream-Percy shouted at the man to do something about the cold, and was already beginning to wrap the boy with his jacket as to add layers.

The boy opened his eyes, and icicles had already started to form between his eyelashes. Snow covered his forehead and cheeks, yet the boy made no movement to brush the snow off. His skin was finally leeched of all color, making the already pale boy whiter than the snow he was freezing in. He actually started to turn blue.

"Hey, hold on," the dream-Percy said desperately, hugging the frozen boy to his body in hopes of warming him up. Tears had already begun to well in his eyes, and Percy knew his dream-self had already given up hope of restoring the boy. Hypothermia had the boy in its grips, and they were simply too unprepared to be of any service to the boy.

"I…I love…you," the boy said with difficulty, his breathing becoming even more sparse. His chest lowered and rose at an extremely slow rate, making Percy positive that the boy was going to die.

"I love you too," Percy had said back. The boy gave him one last smile before shutting his eyes. His chest didn't rise again. The dream Percy had moved to take his pulse, but when he started violently crying and holding the limp body like a baby in his laps, he knew that the boy was already gone.

Every time he'd wake up gasping for breath, as if he was the boy dying of hypothermia instead of the actual boy that had died. And that was what had happened tonight.

He paced back and forth in his room, constantly running his hands through his hair in a nervous habit, while trying to burn the image of the frozen boy from his mind. Whenever he shut his eyes, Percy could picture the boy as a Popsicle, the ice moving to lock him in a tomb of frozen water. The thought terrified him.

Percy drew the curtains back on his window, greeted by the blackness that was the depths of the Mariana Trench. Off in the distance he could see spurts of red and orange, and he knew it was lava building new crust, and sometimes he could even watch underwater volcano eruptions. The sight of the ocean calmed his frayed nerves slightly, but he was still on edge.

He wanted to know who the boy was, and why he cared so much about him. There, in the middle of the night, in the pitch black darkness of the ocean, Percy vowed to himself that he would find the boy if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

 **A/N: Please leave a review if you liked! That would be an awesome birthday present for me! See ya Sparks next time! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday, but it was my b-day! Honestly, it wasn't like I had anything written yesterday, though. I wrote this part in segments over the course of the day, so sorry if it feels kinda choppy in places. As always, please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own these characters, just my OC's and the plot.**

* * *

Percy felt like he was suffocating inside of his helmet, the hot and humid air plastering his hair on his forehead and the nape of his neck. His visor was pulled down over his eyes, and the only thing you could see of his face was his mouth. His armor seemed to be weighing him down, too. Heavy pieces of bronze and gold melted together in the palace's forges, completely seamless, and the familiar teardrop design engraved on the breastplate, right above where his heart was.

"Come in, Perseus. Com-check, one, two," a male voice said over the earpiece Percy had.

"Yeah, I'm here," Percy replied, glancing over at the nineteen other people on the mission with him.

Currently the twenty of them were camping across the road where the entrance to Camp Half-Blood lay. He could see Thalia's tree rising high above the crests of the other trees, its branches glistening with the fading sunlight. Through the magical borders surrounding the camp, he saw people laughing and training and doing other activities that seemed so meaningless when by the end of the night, most of them would be dead.

"Our little birdie says that the best time to move out would be around curfew. People are sleepy, and then there are the cleaning harpies to consider…we'd be able to take them by surprise."

"Rodger that. I'll tell Lila and Rico to take care of the chicken ladies." Percy looked down at his armor, cursing it for being so hot, one, and two for being so obvious. It was like Pontus _wanted_ the Olympians to know he was still alive.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Perseus," the man, Rodger, said through the earpiece. "I'll let you know when the time is right."

"Thank you. Over and out." Percy clicked the earpiece off, before walking back towards the makeshift camp they had set up.

They didn't dare start a fire, but Pontus hadn't left them completely helpless, and gave them a camp stove instead. One of his soldiers, Ruby, had taken down a deer not too far from where they were camped out, and currently she and her sister, Olivia, were skinning the animal, and placing chunks of the meat in the pot boiling with water over the stove.

Others were gathering some herbs, both for medicinal and eating purposes. Percy saw five of the younger soldiers training and sharpening their weapons. He smiled at their prowess and moved on, needing to check on the remaining soldiers. Well, he was sure that everyone was going to obey his orders, except for Andy, who he had brought along with him for the raid.

He grabbed her by the shoulder with a gloved hand gruffly, dragging her away from the other eighteen people he had brought along. Percy raised his visor, making sure that the daughter of Ariana was completely serious about the mission, not that she would try to botch it someway.

"Cadet, I know of your past with the demigods," Percy said emotionlessly, like he had been trained to speak in times of battle. "But you mustn't let your past deter you from our mission, understood? The others don't know or don't have connections with the demigods, but you do. Can I trust you to follow my orders perfectly?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Andy barked automatically, but something in the depths of her green eyes was unsettling for Percy. He nodded grimly, and let her return to the others. He lowered his visor again, and the images instantly appeared again, overloading his vision with stats and other important information.

Percy only left the graphs he deemed important on his display, while everything else was in a folder off to the side that he could access later. What he was left seeing was Andy's profile, and the setting that let him know whether someone was living or dead with a single glance. That app in particular was extremely helpful when he had to clean up after a battle, seeing if someone was still fighting to live, or if they were truly dead.

His microphone clicked on about an hour after Rodger had last talked to him. Percy walked out of earshot from the group, but kept watching them all with his hawk-like eyes.

"Yes?" Percy asked, glancing down at the sword sheathed at his waist. It was a replica of Riptide, but the appearance was different, with the blade being gold instead of bronze for starters, and the fact that there was the teardrop emblem right above where the hilt was. The tip was coated in silver in case he ever ran into any werewolves, seeing as Lycaon hadn't pledged his allegiance to Pontus.

"Five minutes until show time. Get your troops ready, General Perseus."

"Understood, Rodger."

As he was about to turn off his mic, he heard a strangled "Wait!" escape Rodger's lips.

"Yes, lieutenant?" Percy asked, slightly concerned as to why Rodger would sound so impatient.

"Pontus ordered a change in plans. He wants no prisoners. Kill them all."

Percy felt a cold sweat break out across his brow. Once again, he cursed his helmet, as it prevented him from wiping his sweat away. He was fine with fighting-he loved the adrenaline rush it provided-but he only killed when he needed to. Whenever possible he would take hostages or just simply knock them out.

But orders were orders. He _had_ to obey them.

He swallowed a lump at the back of his throat. "I understand. Is that all?"

"One more thing," Rodger added. "The immortal demigods and Chiron, they're the only ones to be left alive. They are to be captured and brought back here."

"You said 'alive.'" Percy pointed out. "Not 'unharmed.'"

"By any means necessary we are to take them. I'm sorry, General. Over an out."

The mic went dead with static. Percy clicked his mic off, sighed once, and walked over to his soldiers to tell them the news.

* * *

Nico was feeling happier than he had in days that night at the campfire. After talking to some gods that owed him favors, and some of the souls bordering the edge of Tartarus (he had tied himself down to something with a heavy-duty, Celestial bronze rope), he had managed to find the general location of where Percy might be kept: somewhere off the coast of China and Japan, most likely situated near the Mariana Trench.

When he had told his friends, they looked at him skeptically, but indulged in what they assumed to be his fantasies. He was positive that was Percy was! But no one seemed to believe him. Not even Jason or Will did.

That still wasn't enough to dampen Nico's mood, and he allowed himself to creepily smile at times during dinner and at the campfire, causing for some of the people sitting closest to him to awkwardly scoot away, in hopes of being as far away from the son of Hades as possible.

The only one that didn't chew Nico out for believing that Percy was still alive, was his niece, Victoria Jensen. Or as she preferred to be called, Vicky. She wasn't close enough to Nico for him to call her a friend, but she definitely was one of his more enjoyable acquaintances.

Her personality was extremely varied to say the least, almost like she was bipolar (but Nico would _never_ say that to her face, because he didn't know her well enough to make any judgements). Some days she would be a ray of sunshine, and other days she would want to punch everyone's lights out. For the most part, she was a happy medium, happy for the most part, but the second you got on her nerves, you better be halfway to Canada already.

She usually wore warrior like attire, whether it was her camo pants, or shirts that said things about being "Army Strong", while always having her combat boots laced up, and the silver tips on the toes of the boots were always polished to perfection. Her hair was always pulled back into a high-ponytail, and one of the Aphrodite girls had even dyed the tips a light blue color in honor of her father and missing uncle.

Today had been one of her broodier days, Nico noticed, as she was in deep thought during the campfire instead of dancing and singing with the other campers. When Nico had tried to talk to her (yeah, a shocker to him too), she gave him her withering glare, telling him to back off, but the shine of tears in her eyes was unmistakable.

He just brushed her tears off as bad memories coming to haunt her, and left her alone. Nico decided to sit by his friends, who were sitting on the first bench, the vibrant gold flames sending their marshmallows on fire. Leo must've been excited too, because his marshmallows were the crispiest out of everyone's. He said something about being Hot Stuff, causing for Calypso to punch him in the arm playfully.

The night passed by uneventfully, with the Apollo cabin screaming their heads off about how their grandmothers got dressed for war, when Chiron stamped his hoof on the rocks around the fireplace.

"You all know what time it is," Chiron said, a knowing smile on his lips.

There was the usual protests of the younger campers complaining that they weren't tired, but Chiron had none of it. He waved his hand once, and the fire extinguished itself.

"Off to bed!" he declared, stomping his hooves twice, before turning back towards the Big House.

Nico looked back to where Vicky had been sitting, only to see that she had disappeared. He had wanted to check up on her, for Percy's sake, but she must've been dealing with some really bad of her inner demons.

Then the screaming broke out.

Nico whirled around to see on of Demeter's sons lying on the floor, dead, an arrow through the chest. Then another demigod, one he didn't know, was also on the floor, dead as well. It didn't take the elder demigods long to realize that this was an ambush on the camp.

Nico took out his weapons, but demigods continued dropping like flies. The worst part was that no one knew where the enemy was. Then he heard someone call out, "There! In the trees!" He looked up to see about six or seven archers calmly picking off the demigods as they screamed and ran.

Then another ten dropped out of the trees, armed to the teeth, as they ran into the crowds with their blades out, cutting everything and everyone that moved out of their way. Nico ran to meet one of the armored assailants, and caught a blow that would've killed the young girl behind him.

"Run!" he told the girl, and she obeyed, running as far as her little legs would carry her. But in his heart, he knew that the girl would soon be dead. He had only saved her from one soldier, while there were at least another sixteen waiting to kill her off.

The soldier he was fighting with scoffed, and in an unorthodox move slammed Nico's sword arm aside with his iron covered shoulder, and tackled him. A brass-knuckled fist was brought down on his face multiple times, and he felt his blood trailing down his face and chin as the attacker continued to beat him up.

He saw Annabeth come up from behind, before she put on her Yankees cap and disappeared. With inhumane like speed, the soldier kicked Nico off to the side, attacked what appeared to be thin air, and finished holding an unconscious Annabeth in their arms.

"Who are you?" Nico shouted, using the reprieve Annabeth gave him to get his sword, though his arm was in a whole world of hurt. "What do you want?"

The soldier didn't reply, instead dropping Annabeth to the floor. They stabbed two more demigods than ran past, before tilting their helmeted head at them in what appeared to be pity. They reached to take their helmet off, and the familiar blue dyed tips and black hair greeted Nico.

 _"_ _Vicky?!"_

"Shut up!" she hissed, kicking Nico flat on his back, holding her sword above his unprotected chest. Tears were streaming down her face, but her grip was steady…almost like she had been trained for situations like these. "Things will go so much smoother if you just follow me."

"No," Nico coughed out, blood still leaking from his mouth. "I would never betray Olympus, and I will _never join you!"_

"Have it your way," Vicky said solemnly, putting on her helmet once more, before hitting Nico square in the temples with the hilt of her sword, sending him into the blissful darkness.

* * *

Percy was an arc of destruction, cutting down everything in his path, blood violently spraying upwards, splattering over his visor. He had shut out all his emotions, considering that he already had been uneasy about this mission since he had been given it. He had to get the job done.

All of his forces that he had brought with him had been deployed, and the sounds of demigods dying reached his ears. He grimaced at the high pitched scream the younger kids would scream when a blade entered their body. His visor had been keeping count of how many dead there were, and right now, they were reaching over eighty out of the two-hundred campers that were here for the summer.

Right now, Percy found himself fighting one of the immortal demigods-Leo, he believed his name was. Fire kept getting lobbed at him, but after Pontus had blessed him along with Helios, he was completely fire-resistant, and could even summon fire himself.

 _Two can play that way,_ Percy thought grimly, letting fire run up the length of his blade.

The Hispanic boy looked in shock at the fire, and a sort of nervousness was evident in his brown eyes. Leo pulled out a hammer from his tool-belt, but Percy knew the fight was one-sided to begin with. He surged forward, wrenched the hammer out of his hands, and used Leo's own weapon against him, slamming it into his temples, letting the son of Hephaestus crumple to the ground in an undignified heap.

He clicked on his mic, while stabbing an older camper in the back with his still flaming sword. "Ruby and Olivia, I need you two to start dragging the immortal demigods out of here."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the two sisters replied, and he watched as the two of them hopped out of their archery posts in the tree, jumping right into the fray. The next time he looked over there, five of the nine immortal demigods in the world were all bound and gagged by the army. The other three, Hazel, Frank, and Reyna were in Camp Jupiter, which would be hit in a few hours by another group of soldiers led by Helios.

The last immortal demigod still fighting was Jason Grace, but he was already battered, bleeding, and looking worse for wear. Better yet, it was Andy who was fighting against him. Percy continued making his way through the fray, but by now it was mostly experienced fighters still standing their ground while most of the younglings were already dead.

Percy sent a command to Julian, another one of his soldiers that he trusted, to watch Andy, making sure she didn't let Jason go or kill him. He had one last person he needed to abduct before the massacre could really come to an end.

Percy was going to kidnap Chiron.

* * *

Chiron galloped around the camp with his armor covering his human half, and a bow and quiver strung over his back. He had aimed at the archers in the trees, hitting two in what he hoped to be their arms, yet they didn't even flinch as his arrow hit them dead on.

For a few seconds, Chiron was baffled, until he realized they must've had armor and vambraces and gauntlets alike on, making them nearly impenetrable. And from the destruction going on by the fire pit with the armored soldiers, the only places one could actually hope to catch a blow on them was the slight opening in their helmets, or near their ankles.

Chiron aimed again, this time at a soldier that had just cut the throat of a young daughter of Nemesis, and hit the soldier in the Achilles tendon. The soldier fell to their knees, but simply broke the shaft of the arrow and pulled the head out. They then waved a hand over their injury and was instantly healed.

Great, now they had healing powers as well.

As Chiron was about to knock another arrow onto his bow, he felt a knife press into the base of his throat hard enough for him to bleed, but not to the point of cutting any major arteries. He froze, waiting to see what would happen to him.

"Drop the bow and quiver, now!" the soldier demanded, and by the sound of their voice, it was a male.

He complied, dropping his bow and almost full quiver at the boy's feet. The soldier deftly kicked the weapons off to the side, but the knife still stayed pressed against his throat.

"The daggers too, old man!"

How in Hades did the soldier know he had daggers hidden in his armor? Did one of the campers betray them all, _again?_ Chiron reached into the pockets behind his breastplate, and threw the four daggers he had concealed in there to the floor as well.

"What do you want?" Chiron asked, taking only shallow breaths, so that the knife wouldn't cut his jugular.

"I need you to come with me," the soldier demanded. "In human form, I may add," he said, nodding in the direction of the wheelchair on the porch of the Big House, which was over ninety feet away. The soldier jumped onto Chiron's flank without his permission, keeping the knife steady as Chiron trotted over the bodies of fallen demigods, most of which still had their eyes open and unfocused on the night sky.

It sent a pang of pain through his heart to see so many children, whom he considered his children, to be bloodied and unmoving on what had been such a peaceful summer night. But he knew the peace wasn't going to last. Three years since the Giant War, there had been peace, and it was a wonderful three years, but war was always going to rear its ugly head once more.

And it appeared that it had begun.

* * *

Percy felt a sense of guilt as he kept the dagger trained on Chiron's neck as he rode over all the fallen bodies towards the Big House. Many of the demigods were under the age of fifteen-much too young to have done anything fruitful with their lives, and now the chance had been violently ripped away from them.

Why was he feeling such guilt? He had killed before and never felt an inkling of remorse, yet this seemed to be as if someone was slowly devouring a piece of his soul. He barked at the centaur to get into his wheelchair, all while making sure none of his soldiers were badly wounded and that no one was coming after him.

He sensed an arrow get shot in his direction, to which he stopped by freezing it midair with a shadow. He then sent the arrow back to the shooter, wincing at the shout of pain he heard in response.

"You don't like this," Chiron said, adjusting the blanket over his fake legs. "You didn't want these people to die. Not like this, at least."

"You know _nothing_ about me," Percy said in a deadly tone, the knife cutting slightly deeper into Chiron's throat. He winced under the blade, blood pouring onto his neck. "You're lucky my master wants you alive, or you'd already be dead."

"Sometimes," said Chiron, "it's better to be dead than alive."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Percy agreed, before taking a semblance of pity on the kindly old centaur, and forcing a sleeping pill down his throat instead of hitting his temples with his knife. Chiron looked dazed for a few seconds before completely lying slack in his chair.

Percy clicked on his mic once more. "Nathan, come get the centaur. Andy, how are we doing on Jason?"

He got Andy's reply first. "Kinda busy right now, General. But I should be able to take him down."

Percy narrowed his eyes even though Andy was in the middle of the fray, a good hundred feet away from him. "Not should, cadet. You _will_ take him down, or I will send Julian in to finish the job."

"That's not necessary, sir."

He ignored her, still not sure where her loyalties lie. "Julian, move in."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"No!" Andy protested, to which Percy just raised an eyebrow.

"Cadet Nevers, are you refusing an order from your superior?"

"You were never my superior to begin with!"

Percy's eyes widened with shock, but he had already been expecting her betrayal at one point. She was probably one of those Special Ops from Olympus.

"Attention all soldiers! If you're not doing anything right now, _take down Andromeda Nevers!_ That is a direct order!" Percy commanded.

"Sir, yes, sir!" was the reply, and instantly, about eight or nine soldiers surged the daughter of Ariana.

Percy sprinted back to the fray, while Nathan began wheeling Chiron into the aircraft that had carried them here. Ruby and Olivia were dragging the limp bodies of the immortals into the aircraft as well. He got there just in time to see Jason drop unconscious from Julian beating him with brass knuckles across the face for far too long.

Then there was a burst of color, blinding all within a five-foot radius of the explosion. A heavy feeling of guilt and depression seemed to fall on Percy, and looking at the dead bodies made him want to curl up into a ball and cry for the destruction he caused.

But the rational part of his brain argued. _That was her control over emotions!_ he thought. _Her mom is goddess of colors and emotions! If she wants to guilt trip you, she can, and she did! Snap out of it!_

It took him about thirty seconds to shake off the effects of Andy's powers, but by then, four of his soldiers were sniveling messes. He groaned and ordered for four others to drag the sobbing soldiers back onto the ship.

Percy heard Rodger's voice through the mic. "Is it done?" he asked, guilt evident in his voice.

"Yes," Percy said numbly. "We've got everyone we need."

"And survivors?"

"About thirty-five escaped, the rest are dead."

"Good. I'll let our master know."

"And one more thing, Rodger. Tell him that Andromeda Nevers has gone rogue."

"Yes, sir."

Percy finally threw his helmet off his head, tucking it under his arm as he sheathed his red-stained sword in its sheath. All his soldiers were accounted for, and he was the last one on the aircraft.

Those that weren't crying their eyes out, kneeled in his presence, praising his command, until he told them to get cleaned up and find something to do to pass the time. Percy tossed his helmet onto one of the plush seats that one could find in all of Pontus's aircraft. Which was ironic, seeing as Pontus was the primordial of the seas, and he had such a good taste in air transportation.

He told the pilot to take them home.

Once they were airborne, Percy personally watched as they dragged the prisoners into the holding cells underneath the main floors. But before they were chained to the walls, the resident daughter of Hecate that was there, Melissa, put a special leather cuff on all of them, even the ones without supernatural abilities. Apparently, it prevented them from using their powers at all, meaning that they wouldn't need to be worried about falling out of the sky because of Jason or Leo. **(A/N: If you've ever seen** ** _Once Upon A Time,_** **you know what I'm talking about.)**

"Other than restraining them," Melissa said, "what do you want me to do?"

"Blind them," commanded Percy. "We don't need them to see any of this or where we're situated. Don't gag them, though; I want to know when they're awake."

"And their injuries?"

Percy surveyed the prisoners. Many of them were bleeding from various different places, nasty bruises adorned their skin, and there was even a bone sticking out of their body for Will and Piper.

"Set the broken bones, and stop the bleeding, but leave all other injuries to heal like mortals do."

"Yes, sir." Melissa called over her brother, Howard, and together the both of them began to fix up the wounded prisoners.

Percy ran a hand through his sweaty hair, and made his way to the strategy room aboard the ship, a room only generals and their lieutenants could enter. He tapped the teardrop emblem three times, and his armor collapsed into a simple gold chain with the teardrop charm dangling at the end. He tied the chain around his neck, and collapsed into the nearest seat.

He swiveled around in the seat, facing the virtual map the room had, and watched the little blue dot that was the ship move closer to the big red line on the map, which was the Mariana Trench. As for the exact location, only the generals, their lieutenants, and the pilots knew-no one else.

According to the screen, they would arrive home in roughly four hours. Percy sighed one more time, before dimming the lights, and getting some well deserved rest.

* * *

 **A/N: Personally, I think I suck at writing fighting scenes. Oh, well, I liked how this battle turned out at least. Honestly, I have no clue what's in store the next few chapters, whether there will be fights or fluff or filler stuff-I only have a faint idea where this is going, but I know how I want this to end. Thanks for reading, Sparks! As always, feel free to leave a review if you liked, and if you didn't, tell me what I could do better. No flames though! See ya Sparks soon! ~RainbowSpark18**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hi Sparks! I forgot to add this in yesterday's note, but I have been a member on Fanfiction for a month now! Yay! Now, review time:**

 **.562-Awwww yisss things be getting interesting/Yes they are! Thanks for reading!**

 **weezergeek-Great chapter! Can't wait for more. P.S., happy birthday. :)/Aw, thanks! And here's more right now!**

 **Guest-Don't like flames? Well I suggest you better stop writing atrocious things like this. This really sucks. I hope you know./Well, that was rude. First of all, no one likes flames (at least no one** ** _I've_** **ever met), and secondly, there is nothing here that tells me what to improve on. I really hope that you're not the same person that's been giving me grief since** ** _Sea Angels,_** **because I would hope by now you would realize that I'm not going to stop doing something I** ** _love_** **to do. If you don't like my story, fine, go find an author on this website you like and stick with them. But if you're going to review, either tell me what you liked or leave** ** _constructive_** **criticism, not just criticism. I will ask this of you nicely, if you're not going to help me improve my writing, please just stop reading.**

 **Whew! Sorry about that, Sparks. It's just I've seen reviews like that on other stories as well as my own, and it aggravates me when someone feels the need to write something mean without leaving anything useful to the author.**

 **Please enjoy this chapter! And sorry again about my rambling! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I wished I owned these characters...**

* * *

The first thing that Nico felt was pain lacing his body, as even the simplest tasks such as breathing caused his chest to feel like he was being pierced with a heated piece of metal. He groaned, and tried to sit up to the best of his ability while having his hands bound behind his back, and his eyes blindfolded.

The small motion of sitting upright sent a jolt of pain up his right arm, where Vicky had slammed into his shoulder with her armor-covered shoulder. Then there was the matter of the piece of leather around his wrist, which he had no idea what it did or why it was there. But he had a feeling he wasn't going to find out for a while.

Nico heard some of the others shifting around slightly, and soft moans escaped their lips, most likely from the injuries they sustained as well. At least they were still alive.

With that single thought, Nico felt a wave of guilt rush over him. His friends were still alive-just extremely battered-but all the others, the older campers that were also his friends, and the younger ones looking for a safe place from the monsters, they had been violently slaughtered in their own home. And the supposed "Heroes of Olympus" failed to keep them safe.

The worst part was that the soldiers had taken them out with ease. Vicky was eleven, seven years younger than Nico, but the skills she had showed just how deadly these warriors could be. She looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat when she just about gave Nico a concussion with the hilt of her sword.

Speaking of which, it was then that he started to feel an unbearable pounding right at his temples and at the base of his neck. Even without the blindfold, he doubted he would've been able to see correctly, vertigo making it impossible for him to get his bearings.

Nico heard someone hit the metal bars of the holding cell abruptly, causing for him to jump, sending a flare of pain through his already pounding head. He grit his teeth in pain, while some of the girls outright screamed.

"Good to see you're awake," a distorted voice said, almost like they were talking through a mouthpiece. Nico couldn't tell if it was a male or a female talking to them.

"What do you want?" Annabeth hissed.

"You want to set us free," Piper said in her most soothing voice. But for some reason, Nico felt no urge to comply with her command.

The voice laughed. "Your charmspeak has been deactivated sweetheart, so don't even try to use your Siren magic on any of us."

"Deactivated?" Leo asked. "Like you just turned off the part of her brain that controls that? That's so cool!" Nico heard Leo wince when something collided with what he guessed to be Leo's body. "Okay, not cool in this situation, but still!"

"Not the time, Leo," Jason said. "So, are you gonna answer my friend's question? What do you want?"

"As if I'd let prisoners such as yourself know. I'll give you a hint, they're all on board." The person speaking hit the metal bars again, leaving them vibrating in their posts, before Nico heard the sound of their heels softly retreating up the stairs.

"Is everyone alright?" Nico asked, turning his head in the direction he heard the voices.

"Other than being bound, _again,_ and kidnapped, _again,_ I think I'm fine," Will said, sarcasm heavily lacing his voice.

"We're all pretty beat up," Annabeth said, and Nico heard her wince. "Damn, those soldiers treated us like we were children. I don't even remember landing a blow on the one I was sneaking up on before falling unconscious."

Nico grimaced. "Yeah, Annabeth, it was Vicky who took the both of us out."

"Vicky Jensen? That one chick that's always wearing army stuff, and is one of the buffest eleven-year-olds I have ever seen?" Leo asked, before giving a low whistle.

"That's her," Nico confirmed.

"I swear, she could probably take Harley down without breaking a sweat."

"She did," Jason pointed out. "Remember how many other soldiers there were? They practically killed all the campers. I don't even know how many, if any, survived."

"There were survivors," Chiron added, speaking for the first time since the conversation had begun. "Not many, but at least on demigod made it out alive, I promise you."

Nico scoffed. "Yeah, one of two-hundred. And if Camp Half-Blood's gone, I can guarantee you that Camp Jupiter's next."

"And we have no way of messaging them," Annabeth said in a resigned tone. "But it looks like they're going after the immortal demigods and the camp leaders."

"So Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and Lupa are going to be joining us?" Piper questioned. "That's just peachy. Hopefully…" Piper stopped talking, cutting off her train of thought.

"Hopefully what, Beauty Queen?"

"I don't want them to go after our parents."

Will made a distressed noise. "I hope you mean godly parents, Piper…"

Nico could imagine the daughter of Aphrodite shaking her head solemnly, even though no one could see her. This situation seemed to be getting darker by the second.

"No, our mortal ones. They're our weakness other than our loyalty to our friends, and how it's looking right now, we're all going to end up in a cell together."

"I could get us out of here," Nico offered. "There must be shadows somewhere, and I can shadow travel us back to Camp Jupiter to warn them."

"You are _not_ using your Underworld-y magic!" Will protested, making his chains rattle as he tried to pull on them.

"Don't think about using your powers in general," the same robotic voice said over the PA speaker that was somewhere in the room. Nico looked side to side, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but he was beginning to get seriously pissed at the blindfold.

"Explain, soldier," Chiron said in a cool, calculating voice while keeping his tone neutral.

The person speaking broke off laughing, which sounded really strange through the mouthpiece they were using. Nico shuddered at the sound, which was like a car engine revving up, except this car wanted to run you over, and once you were flattened like a pancake, they would keep running over you just for kicks.

"Are you all _that_ dense? Especially you, daughter of Athena," the voice crooned. "None of you noticed the cuffs? Well, it's no wonder Olympus will fall so easily."

"The cuffs!" Jason exclaimed, the tugging on his chains increasing in frequency, until Nico had gotten used to the feeling of the metal plate by his feet constantly vibrating.

"What about them?" Chiron asked.

"Gods, you're dense." The person gave an exasperated sigh through the speaker. "Wait until Hecate's protégée shows up, she'll be able to explain everything then."

"Don't you dare touch my sister!" Nico roared, violently pulling on his own restraints as well. "Leave her alone!"

"Orders are orders, di Angelo. Maybe if you had just listened to your father all those years ago, you may have escaped this fate. But, oh, the things we do in the name of _love!_ You're pathetic, son of Hades. _And you always will be!"_

The speaker cut off abruptly, and Nico wanted nothing more than to rip the speaker's head off their shoulders. But the way he worded his sentences…almost like he had _known_ Nico from before. Could it have been…? No, that's ridiculous. If it had been Percy, wouldn't he have been trying his hardest to get back to Nico? But then there was the whole ordeal with the Soul Switch magic…

Nico didn't know, and it was driving him insane with worry and anger. Worry, because he wanted to be wrapped in Percy's arms again, and he wanted to know that his boyfriend was safe from all harm. Anger, because he wanted to murder the people that abducted his boyfriend, making him believe for almost six months that he had died from the disownment.

He stopped pulling on the chains, feeling blood drip onto his legs from his chaffed wrists. Nico decided to slump back against the cool metal sides of the cell, using the cold as a distraction from the huge mess they had gotten into.

"Well," Leo said, breaking the silence. "We're massively screwed, aren't we?"

Then Chiron replied. "Yes, Mr. Valdez, I believe we are."

* * *

For the first time Percy could remember, he had actually stayed mostly still during the duration of the flight. He had slept for about two hours, and then he stayed in the control room, watching the prisoners sleep, and later on, talk amongst themselves.

Yeah, he knew it sounded kind of creepy, but there was something about this group of people that tugged at him, as if hurting them ended up with him hurting himself. He had sent Vicky to give them their extremely watered down explanation as to why they were here in the first place, and the voice speaking through the speaker had been him.

When Percy saw one of the boys, Nico, recoil at the harsh words he said like he had been slapped, it felt like he had been slowly pushing a dagger into his heart. Something about the dark-haired teen intrigued him, like an old memory that had faded with time, but he couldn't place a finger on it.

He had been taught to hate the name Nico di Angelo ever since he had been under Pontus's wing, but looking at the boy behind the name, he couldn't find it in his heart to hate him. Being bound and blinded would've fried his nerves completely, yet Nico seemed to react so calmly about it, except for that one part where he rattled the chains so bad, it looked like he was going to cut through his bone just so that he could escape.

Percy fought the blush rising to his face when Nico defended his sister. He had never seen anyone with that kind of loyalty before in the army. Not amongst the barracks, or the generals, or even with Pontus and Thalassa themselves. They all wanted the same thing: world domination and revenge, leaving Percy as the odd one out. He put a mask on every day, making people believe he was this cruel, cunning general that would destroy anything in his path, but at nights, when he was positive he was alone, he would silently cry himself to sleep for killing so many innocent people in the name of Pontus.

No matter how much training Pontus provided for him, Percy was weak. He _felt_ things when he was fighting instead of being on autopilot, stabbing everything that moves through the heart. And he had to hide that every single day, lest he end up being whipped, or worse yet, spend the night in Thalassa's torture chamber.

Percy pushed all those thoughts aside, trying to embody the soulless soldier Pontus wanted him to be. Yes, he would always get the job done, but that didn't have to mean he liked it.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, before clicking on his earpiece. "General to Howard. Come in Howard."

The response was immediate. "Yes sir?"

"I want both you and Melissa to go check up on the prisoner's injuries. And put some sort of bandages on their wrists. If they insist on yanking on their restraints, at least don't let themselves rub their skin raw."

"On it, sir!" Howard replied.

"Let me know when you're done," Percy told him, turning the volume of his earpiece down. He was to always have that piece of equipment on-unless he was fighting, then he could turn it off.

Percy watched on the screen as his two medics went to fix up the injuries of the prisoners, and he fiddled with the gold chain around his neck. It had become a nervous habit of his in the short amount of time he had had it.

He watched as the prisoners lashed out at his medics, whether it be them trying to bite or kick them, or making snide remarks. He pushed a button on the control panel, and within moments, the prisoners were out cold. The cuffs Melissa had made didn't just prevent them from using their powers, it also functioned as a way to regulate them. Percy had just released a large wave of melatonin into their blood stream, the chemical that prepares your body for sleep. He could release other chemicals into them such as adrenaline and dopamine to make them feel fear and joy, respectively.

It didn't matter that he had sent them to sleep anyways. Percy was going to have to do it soon, as they were approaching the Mariana Trench, so it was better that he did it now. The ship rocked back and forth for a few moments as it entered the water, but the descent smoothened out soon after.

Percy left the control room, heading up to the cock pit with the pilot. The co-pilot gave him a glance, and quickly switched positions with him as he helped the pilot, Mary, navigate them to the bottom of the ocean without crashing into the rocky ravines on the sides of the trench.

And if you're wondering how the pressure didn't crush them into a smooth paste, Pontus had enchanted all his mobile forces that could carry soldiers to not crumple under the pressure. The palace was under the same enchantment, so no one needed to worry about their body squishing together like putty.

"This is aircraft PT1437 coming in," Percy said over his earpiece, slowing the jets down slightly as they moved deeper. "We'll be reaching base in T-minus four minutes. Are we cleared for landing?"

"You're cleared, sir," a female voice said kindly through the earpiece. He recognized that voice immediately: Andy.

Percy motioned for the other co-pilot to take his seat while he spoke in private. He slammed the door shut to the strategy room, putting Pontus on the same airway with him. A hologram of Pontus appeared, giving Percy a questioning look, while he pressed a finger to his lips, indicating silence. Percy increased the volume on his earpiece until it was like he was speaking to someone in person.

"What do you want Andy?" he asked, causing for Pontus to narrow his eyes at the earpiece.

"The prisoners on board, Percy," she replied smoothly.

"You hacked into our information, cadet. And you're a traitor. You know what the punishment for betraying the crown is." Percy clenched a fist, awaiting the snarky remark the daughter of Ariana would give him.

"Yes, death, and Erebus sending my damned soul to Tartarus. Such a shame, seeing you of all people send people down to that hellhole when you've been there yourself."

Pontus clenched his teeth through the hologram, obviously seething with anger at what the traitor had to say. But he stayed silent, watching the conversation play out.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Percy said, his voice a steely calm, like the calm before a storm. If she kept pushing and prodding, he knew he would blow up. "Now, stop lying to me and go back to the Olympians that sent you here in the first place. I know all about your little Special Ops buddies, but we have ears everywhere."

Andy laughed bitterly through the earpiece, clearly annoyed. "They've been lying to you, Percy. Ever since you've been with Pontus, they've fed you lies."

"That's enough!" Pontus declared, finally speaking through the hologram. "General, destroy that earpiece now!"

"Then you'll never know-"

Andy's sentence got cut off as Percy threw the piece of metal onto the floor, smashing it underneath his boot repeatedly, until only sparking wires and crushed plastic was left. He had wanted to hear what the traitor had to say, but this was a direct order from Pontus-he didn't have any other choice but to obey.

"Lord, what was that about?" Percy asked, after a few tense moments of silence.

Pontus regained his composure, but the anger in his eyes was clearly evident. "It's nothing of your concern, Perseus. Trust me, this has nothing to do with you."

"If you say so, milord." Percy sighed, running his fingers across the cool chain around his neck. "How do we proceed about landing? It seems as if the base's position has been compromised."

"Land immediately. Once everyone is accounted for, I'll teleport us elsewhere. You'll be told within the week."

"Understood. I'll see you soon, milord. Over and out."

The hologram winked off, leaving Percy with another thing to worry about piled onto everything else he was dealing with. He shut everything off in the strategy room, even going so far as to change the password on the keypad to the one Leto always used.

He checked over the equipment once more, and returned back to the cock pit, both pilots looking at him with worry. Percy brushed them off, taking his seat beside Mary once more, prepared to bring them all home.

* * *

The second the connection was cut off with Perseus, Pontus put his fist through the nearest wall. Rivulets of lava flowed from the hole down the wall, singeing the carpeted floors. Two guards ran to the hole, and began to patch up the hole with tape and plaster (he had no idea where they got the plaster from on such short notice). Pontus waved them off, and with a motion of his hands, the obsidian wall was restored back to normal.

"Are you alright, milord?" one of the guards asked, keeping their head down, while bowing as wall.

"Did I grant you permission to speak?" he lashed out, backhanding the guard into the newly restored wall. Wisely, the guard kept their head down and didn't respond. "At least you realize your mistake. Ten lashes from Nyx, to be carried out within the hour. And to answer your question, I am fine."

The other guard forced their partner's arms behind their back, cuffing their hands together, leading them in the direction of the Punishment Room. Pontus smirked at the sight. He loved the fact that loyalty only went so far in the army, in which people were willing to put other people's necks on the line if it meant keeping their hide safe. Cowards all of them, but cowards willing to die for him nonetheless.

Pontus began walking in the direction of the barracks with one sole purpose: sending all of Andromeda's bunkmates into the Punishment Room for a _special_ night with his generals. If he found one more traitor from Barrack 81, he was going to execute them all.

 ** _Later that night_**

 **(A/N: There's going to be mentions of torture, so read at your own risk)**

Pontus was already seated with Thalassa by the time Helios joined them. Great, all his generals were here to deliver the verdict. A careful eye passed over the assorted Titans, protogenoi, gods, and the single demigod that were his generals, making sure they were up for the task.

But for the most part, he was worried about Perseus. While everyone else had this sort of lust for pain in their eyes, his were devoid of all emotion, as if the thought of torturing a whole barrack of soldiers bored him. Just how far had he pushed the boy?

No matter, it was too late to change plans now. He stood up, and all in the room bowed in his direction, minus the few in chains. As for the other guard he had sentenced for Nyx, her punishment had been received over two hours ago. Tonight was all about getting answers from these nine traitors Olympus seemed to be so fond of.

"Generals, it is time!" Pontus declared, drawing Mors from his scabbard at his waist. "Punish the traitors. You're up first, Nyx."

Nyx grinned like a Cheshire cat, the stars on her clothes shimmering brightly for the primordial of Night. She slowly unfurled her whip until it was just a heap by her feet. "With pleasure, milord."

She gave the standard forty-five lashes for breaking the rules on all the nine traitors back's, leaving their skin a bloody, raggedy mess. She hadn't held back, letting them feel the full pain of a protogenoi's symbol of power against a human. Those would most definitely leave nasty scars that would never fade.

His generals and their choice of lieutenants cheered as each beating ended with a spray of blood tainting the whip, running down their bare backs. All except for Perseus, who watched with what appeared to be indifference.

Soon Nyx finished doling out her punishment, and her husband, Erebus, took her place. He pulled out his sword made of pure darkness, and began carving words such as _traitor_ and _backstabber_ into their already ragged flesh. Each one screamed out in pain, but his generals were relentless, wanting to hear them scream their vocal cords raw with agony.

Then came Helios, Selene, Perses, Hecate, Leto, and Triton, all taking their time with their bloody playthings. New brands were left on their smoldering flesh from Helios. Selene penetrated many uninjured parts of their body with her poison-tipped daggers. Perses carved matching 81's on any part of their body it would fit, such as their thighs, or shoulders, or biceps, never letting them forgot that they were once a part of a powerful army.

Hecate and Leto teamed up, showing them their worst fears for fifteen minutes as screams of fright were ripped out of their throats. It was a wonder that all of them were still conscious. Triton would keep them in a bubble of water until their faces turned purple, gave them a moment to catch their breath, and repeated the process over and over again.

After Triton came Kronos, who with his scythe left tally marks right on their faces, each cut causing a little bit more of their soul to drain from their body. He did…worse things, but Pontus didn't want to relive them a second time. There were some things that were better off forgotten.

"Perseus, my boy, it's your turn," Pontus announced. The generals whooped and wailed with a sadistic satisfaction, and Perseus merely sighed, uncapping the ballpoint pen that transformed into his sword, Riptide.

The son of Poseidon observed the already broken demigods and ran a tired hand over his face. Reluctance was clear in his features and by the way he was positioned, but he did as asked. He turned the demigods around so that their front side was facing him instead of their backs. With a few expert strokes, only the bras of the females and the torso of the males was left showing. What _was_ he planning?

Perseus walked over to the flaming brazier that had been going, before sticking in the tip of his sword until it was glowing red from the heat. He slipped a gold chain off his neck, finding the little teardrop charm at the end. He then proceeded to press the charm against their stomachs, and with his burning sword, held the sword over the charm, leaving a blackened square of skin with the teardrop forever emblazed onto them. Perseus did it quickly, leaving his sword only long enough to leave the mark before rapidly moving on. It was obvious he didn't like this, and he wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Once he finished, he slipped the chain around his neck once more, doused the tip of Riptide in a small bucket of water, and capped his sword. He took a seat next to the other generals, who were mostly giving him looks of shock and disappointment as his lieutenant gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on the back.

Thalassa gave them all a wicked smile, but instead of doing anything to them, she looked up at Pontus. He nodded his head in approval, already knowing where this was headed, and watched as the ten of them vanished into thin air. Seconds later Thalassa came back, blood staining her hands and blue dress. She pulled Pontus into a chaste kiss, before looking back at the others.

"We will try to get information out of them tomorrow," Pontus said.

"A night in my chambers should do them some good," Thalassa added sadistically.

His generals praised her idea, and they barked for the janitors to begin cleaning up the blood stained…well, everything in the room. The second Pontus released them back to their chambers, Perseus zipped out of the room like someone was chasing him.

He would need to have a conversation with his youngest general sometime soon, but for the rest of the night, he was content knowing that the largest group of traitors had been weeded out of his army.

Victory seemed to be falling into the palm of his hand.

Smirking, he kissed Thalassa on the cheek, and they returned to her chamber, prepared to listen to the sounds of kids screaming in agony for as long as they wanted to.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay, I updated for the second day in a row! Well, Monday was really my only break, but pfft, technicalities. Leave a review if you liked! And please, _NO FLAMES!_ *stares at the guest that feels the need to write mean things* See ya Sparks soon! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi Sparks! Sorry for not updating sooner, but the past few days I've had a killer headache, and looking at any screen for too long hurt my eyes. Well, I'm updating now! Yay! Please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns these characters...boo T_T**

* * *

For once in the past three days (or was it four? He had lost track), Nico wanted to wake up on his own accord, and without pain. His headache was still as persistent as ever, feeling like his skull was slowly being compressed by a vice, but at least his blindfold was removed.

He was surprised to feel velvety sheets covering his body instead of waking up on a cold, stone floor like most dungeons would be. Yes, his hands and feet were still bound, but he had a greater range of motion than he had had over the past few hours. He found that he could walk in about an eight-foot radius of the bed he woke up in. It was far enough for him to reach the bathroom, but not long enough for him to even touch the door.

Nico sat on the edge of the bed, the iron shackles clanking together noisily, which did nothing to help his headache. And speaking of the bathroom, the door opened, letting a cloud of steam escape, veiling a shadowy figure. Nico grimaced and lowered his gaze. He really didn't want to be greeted with someone nude after waking up.

The smoke dissipated some, and Nico hesitantly glanced up. Thankfully he was in a guy's room, and said guy already had camo training pants on and was in the process of buttoning his shirt. Nico felt heat rising to his cheeks when he saw the man's washboard stomach, complete with a six-pack and surfer tan that one couldn't achieve without being in the sun nearly every day.

The soldier turned to him, and Nico's heart jackknifed in his chest. Those piercing sea-green eyes were looking at him with wonder and curiosity, and his finger paused from buttoning the black dress shirt he was wearing. The same lopsided smile that made his heart race was looking down at him with the same amount of warmth he remembered.

Nico didn't hesitate to spring up, hugging Percy into a fiercely protective embrace. Percy stiffened under the touch, and instead of hugging back, he just awkwardly patted Nico on the back.

"Um, I'm glad to see you're awake," Percy said awkwardly, slowly prying Nico off of him, setting him back down on the bed. The bright red in his cheeks wasn't missed by Nico, but it was obvious something was wrong.

The Percy he started dating wouldn't hesitate to hug him back and maybe even kiss him if there wasn't too many people around, but this Percy standing in front of him seemed slightly aloof, as if not knowing to hug him back or just not remembering Nico in general. He hoped the latter wasn't true. He had already dealt with Percy losing his memories before; he didn't want to go through that again.

"Why am I here?" Nico asked, taking in his surroundings fully for the first time since he had woken up.

The room itself was about the size of a cabin's main area back at camp, so about six-hundred square-feet. The walls weren't painted-instead they were pure obsidian, but little rivers of lava ran through the black stone like veins, providing a dull, yet comforting orange glow. There was one window in the room as far as Nico could see, but it was covered by light blue drapes. From the lack of light peeking through, he guessed it was nighttime.

Percy's bed was a canopy kind, with the blue curtains and everything billowing out like a princess's bed. It was obviously king-sized, with satin navy blue sheets, contrasting against the light blue of the canopy and the blackness of the walls. The drawers were made of a dark brown wood, and Percy had a lamp in the shape of a conch shell. A silver dog tag hung around the lamp, and Percy reached to put it around his neck.

"You're here because I asked for you to be," explained Percy, finally finishing buttoning his shirt, and leaving his silver dog tags rest right above his sternum. There was another piece of jewelry around his neck-a gold chain with a teardrop charm hanging in the middle. It was the same insignia engraved into the armor of the soldiers that had viciously assaulted Camp Half-Blood.

Nico scrambled back into the bed, fear beginning to grip his heart like ice. "Percy, please tell me that you didn't…" He couldn't finish the sentence. Percy hurting the people that were his family in all but blood? The thought was unfathomable.

"Didn't do what? If you're wondering about the others, then no, I haven't done anything to them. They're in the dungeons, but they're all very much alive." Percy walked across the room, grabbing a black coat hanging over the back of a chair. He threw it on over his shirt, and the gold epaulettes and medals hanging over his pectorals suddenly made the situation all the more real.

Percy had been brainwashed. And he believed he hadn't done anything wrong.

Oh, what had they done to him?

"Not exactly what I meant." Nico laughed nervously, putting his hands in his face.

"Then what exactly do you mean, _amore?"_ Percy sat next to Nico, placing a hand on his knee. It was then that he realized Percy had put on white gloves. What _was_ he exactly? A soldier? Lieutenant? General? For the love of the gods, he better have not been a general.

Nico was surprised that Percy had said something to him in Italian, but he brushed the affection off. It didn't matter if this version of his boyfriend fell in love with him-it wasn't the same boy. And it might never be the same boy again. The thought saddened him.

"I mean, was it you that attacked Camp Half-Blood?"

Percy visibly winced, causing for Nico's mouth to drop in shock, before quickly morphing into a scowl. If he had any doubts before, they were just confirmed. Whoever had kidnapped Percy turned him into a warrior, a cold, ruthless warrior.

"Orders are orders, Nico. Surely you must be able to appreciate that as you sold me off to these people." The coldness in his voice was impossible to miss, as was the fury adorning his features. "Yet you intrigue me. As much as I want to hate you for sending me here, I can't."

"What?!" Nico exclaimed, hopping to his feet. "I _never_ wanted you here! I wanted you to be at my side, with our friends in camp!"

"Oh, please." Percy brushed off his protests with a simple wave of his hand. "I've learned to not trust anything that comes out of an enemy's mouth. You're still a prisoner, di Angelo, just a better treated one." He stood up from the bed, straightening out his jacket one more time.

"Don't forget your place, because I promise you I'm the only one with any leniency in this place. The others wouldn't hesitate to beat the seven shades of schist out of you for being even the slightest disrespectful. I have a meeting I need to get to, but I'll make sure a servant brings you food and a change of clothes. Feel free to use anything, but don't think about sifting through my drawers. I'll see you later."

Percy pressed a button on the side of his dresser, and a flat screen TV rose from a flat surface. He tossed the remote to Nico, before opening his door and leaving, the only sound being the fading _clicks_ of his shoes.

Nico groaned once more, before flopping into Percy's bed. A flash of pain coursed through his injured arms and his already throbbing head. He reached for the remote, turned it onto the first channel, and Nico spent gods-know-how-long watching the different pictures, not really paying attention as he was lost in his own thoughts.

* * *

Annabeth squirmed in her prison cell as something small and furry ran over her leg. Was that a rat? Gross, but seeing as she was a New Yorker, and the fact that she had faced worse, it didn't really disgust her that much. At least the thing didn't bite her.

The prison cells were pretty much the stereotypical prison cells you'd see in the movies: cinderblock walls, a mattress that had so many stains that you couldn't tell where one started and ended with only a thin sheet covering the germ trap, a small toilet and sink in the corner (without the mirror, of course), and the classic iron bars separating Annabeth and all the others from the rest of the world.

The lights in this area were purposely made to flicker on and off. Maybe to inspire some kind of paranoia? Annabeth wasn't scared by it, but it did irritate her, and she could already imagine the headache she would get sooner or later.

Not that she had many things to be thankful for in this situation, but at least their captors let them keep their clothes. Yes, they were shredded and matted with blood, but it was better than the orange or black-and-white jumpsuits they so obviously would have to wear.

"Is everyone okay?" Piper's voice called out through the bars.

There were some sounds of groaning, but Leo replied, "Define 'okay', Beauty Queen. We're all alive, if that's what you mean."

"Rollcall!" Annabeth decided, just to make sure Leo's statement was true. Plus, she wanted to know if anyone was in interrogation or if they were honestly dead. Not like she was one to talk; she had died before, and Poseidon was the only reason she had a second chance at life.

"Jason?"

"I'm here, Annie."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes in the direction of Jason's cell, but continued anyway.

"I know Piper and Leo are here, so Will?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Chiron?"

"He's still coming off that sleeping medication," Will called out. "He's in a groggy kind of state. I'd give him another thirty minutes before Chiron will be fully coherent."

"Okay. Nico?"

There was no reply. Annabeth looked to her left and right through the iron bars, but she couldn't see the black-haired, olive-skinned son of Hades anywhere. She knew he wasn't on the same side of the dungeons as she was. The girls were on one side, while the guys were on the others. Chiron, for some inexplicable reason, was on the girl's side, but that was a minor detail.

"Do you think he's on the girl's side?" Leo asked, snickering softly.

Annabeth glared at the Latino, as did Will and Jason, well, to the best of their abilities. Piper then said, "If I could, I would punch you for that comment."

"Jeez, it was a joke!"

"A mean one," Annabeth said. "He's gay, not a girl, Leo. Never let Nico know you said that, or you'll be back in the Underworld before you could even start to apologize."

Will nodded his head adamantly, still giving the son of Hephaestus a wary look. He cleared his throat. "Okay, so if Nico isn't here, where _is_ he?"

All eyes turned to Annabeth, to which she just sighed and rolled her eyes. It wasn't surprising they turned to her for answers, daughter of Athena after all, but it would be nice if someone else had the answers other than her for once.

"Guys, I honestly don't know. Hades, I don't even _know_ where we are! We were _unconscious_ and _blindfolded_ when we were brought here, so I can't even begin to think of an escape plan!" Annabeth said, frustration taking the center stage for her emotions. She internally sighed, pressing her forehead against the cool metal bars. "I'm sorry. It's just, I _hate_ not knowing something."

"It's okay, Annabeth," Jason said in what she liked to call his "Praetor-voice." She stifled a giggle at the thought of Percy trying to imitate Jason's tone.

Her thoughts darkened instantly. When she had died in Delphi, her last thoughts had been on how this was going to affect Percy. She knew she wanted him to move on, to not always be stuck on her, but when she learned of his relationship with Nico, it was a hard pill to swallow.

Nico had come out to the both of them at the end of the Giant War, explicitly saying that Percy "wasn't his type." How convenient that his boyfriend died at the same time she had, leaving Percy ready for the taking.

Then back in those torture chambers of glass, where Leto had kept her and Will captive for a week in their worst fears, when she saw Nico free Percy and hug and kiss him like he used to do for her, it felt like Percy had stabbed her in the heart with Riptide. Yes, she knew she was being a hypocrite for wanting him to move on, but the second she saw him, she had wanted to jump into his arms, and hold him close, and for him to be hers for all of eternity.

When she had been brought back, Percy had already been kidnapped. She shared tips with Nico on how to cope, because she knew better than anyone else what it felt like to have Percy abducted for long periods of times. But that seed of jealousy she harbored never fully died out, instead, at times, it seemed to fester.

She was trying to find it in her heart to accept the fact that Percy had moved on, like she had wanted, but her pride wouldn't let her. Percy had been hers first, and it was too painful to see him happy with someone other than her. It was times like these she really hated having hubris as her fatal flaw.

"Annabeth? Hello-o-o-o? Anyone home in La-la land?" Leo's voice asked.

"Leo!" Jason and Piper chided together, causing for Leo to smile at the attention.

"I was lost in thought, sorry," Annabeth said.

"Don't be. You're facial expression made it appear like you had an escape plan in mind," Will said nonchalantly, sitting on his mattress.

"Huh? Oh, no, that wasn't what I was thinking about. But don't worry, I'm fine," she insisted.

"If you say so."

Annabeth flopped onto her thinly veiled, stained mattress, the springs groaning under her body as she stared at the lava creeks that flowed through the walls, her thoughts spinning at a million miles an hour. She probably would've spent the entire day like that, when she heard a door open on its rusty hinges extremely loudly.

A soldier walked in, with what appeared to be training clothes, but a helmet with a visor covered their face completely. In the same robotic voice from the plane they had been kidnapped on, the soldier said, "Which one of you mind sharing your cells?"

"Depends," Jason said stoically. "Who do we need to share with?"

"Bring in the prisoners!" the soldier called out over their shoulder. Six more guards came in, two of them holding a single person up. Annabeth's heart clenched when she recognized who the unconscious people were.

"I'll take Reyna!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I don't mind to share."

"And I'll room with Hazel," Piper said.

The soldier made a gesture with their fingers, one which Annabeth didn't understand in the slightest, and instantly Reyna and Hazel were in their cells. Reyna was wearing an ace-bandage around her left ankle, bruises and scratches covered her exposed skin, she had a split lip, and a thick white bandage was wrapped around her chest and forehead. Her purple cape was in tatters, and the gold armor she usually wore had been confiscated.

"Who'll take the boy?" the soldier asked gruffly, pulling Annabeth out of her train of thought.

"I will," volunteered Jason.

Again, the soldier made the same weird gesture, and Frank appeared inside of Jason's cell. With such a big dungeon, Annabeth thought, shouldn't everyone be able to have their own cell? She didn't voice her question, though, because as they had already learned from when Leo bad-mouthed one of the soldiers earlier, they would be whipped ten times with a protogenoi's symbol of power.

"Food will be in fifteen." The soldier turned to the other six guards that had followed in. "Leave us."

"Yes, sir!"

The soldier took off their visor, but if Annabeth tried to focus on their face for too long, it would blur, making her feel slightly dizzy. From what she could make out, the soldier was a male with black hair, and she couldn't tell if his eyes were green or blue. His skin was extremely tanned, surprising for the limited amount of natural sunlight they got here. Annabeth hadn't seen any light other than from torches and lightbulbs the entire time she was here, but there was a chance it was night. Not like she would know; there was no window down here.

"So _you're_ Nico's friends," he said with contempt, walking up and down between the cells.

"What have you done?" Jason hissed out, his tone promising to bring pain if he was allowed to.

"Do?" the soldier asked innocently. "I haven't _done_ anything, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, former Praetor of the Twelfth Legion."

Jason blanched, but peppered the soldier with questions anyway. "Where's Nico? Is he okay? He better not be hurt…"

The soldier gave a hearty laugh, before abruptly cutting off, standing right in front of Jason's cell with a powerful glower. "Learn your place, Sparky. We already whipped Repair Boy over there," he said, gesturing to Leo, who looked like he was shivering in fear. "What's preventing us from issuing you the same fate? Not your father, or your rank, or your accomplishments. No, take full comfort in knowing that you are all completely helpless and at our mercy."

"I'm not afraid if you whip me," Jason said, continuing to poke the bear.

Annabeth and Piper had been making the _stop-talking_ motion with the hands, but clearly Jason's pride was going to get the better of him. Honestly, boys needed to learn when to let go of their egos to protect themselves.

"Oh? Really?" The soldier sounded completely amused. "Even if it's by _my_ hand?"

"Especially if it's by your hand!"

He laughed once more. "So be it. But first, a present." The blurry image of the man's face finally dropped, only to reveal the face of the man she had been thinking about earlier.

Her mouth opened and closed without her permission. "Percy?"

* * *

Percy shut the door behind him gently, wiping the blood off the curl of the whip with his gloved hand, leaving a streak of red across his palm. He could still hear the screams of Jason Grace through the heavy metal, and the scared and frantic tones his friends used.

He had been lenient with the punishment-only ten lashes. Other generals would've done at the least twenty, but Percy knew they would do it until their victim fell unconscious. He used the shadows like a portal, sending Nyx's whip back in her direction. He had been getting better with all his new powers, especially with shadow traveling. Percy still preferred vapor traveling as it didn't consume as much energy, but while there could be no moisture in the air, shadows were everywhere.

He walked down the hallway, prepared to head to the arena to train, when he felt an arm get swung around his neck. Immediately, he whirled around, kicking the person square in the chest, before straddling their fallen body while holding a fistful of shirt in one hand, and his other hand brought back, ready to break the person's nose.

"Hmm, you've gotten better about that, I see," Triton said, giving a meek chuckle. A little glimmer of fear was in his eyes, but other than that the god looked more surprised than anything else.

"Oh, it's just you." Percy got off his brother, before helping him up onto his tails-err, feet. It was still strange to see the messenger of the sea in human form. Whenever Pontus wasn't around, he'd be in merman form, which was strange to see, but Percy had gotten used to it by now.

"Yup! Where you heading off to now, little bro? You're always running around like a chicken with their head cut off."

Percy gave him an amused look. "And how would you know what that looks like? You're a god of the sea, and there's no chickens in the ocean as far as I know."

"Hey!" Triton complained. "I _do_ go to the mortal world occasionally."

He scoffed. "Yeah, to sire kids."

The god didn't deny it, instead blushing a bright green. Yes, his skin still held that greenish tint from being a merman, so his blush was green. "Just answer my question, Perce."

"Training, if you must know."

Percy laughed as his brother rubbed his face where the nasty bruise had been a few days ago. Triton walked a few steps away from him, giving him an extremely wary look. Percy drummed his fingers against his thigh as Triton continued following him towards the arena.

When they got there, Percy heard sounds of screaming, and shot his brother a confused look.

"What's going on in there, Triton?"

Triton rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and he wouldn't meet Percy's eyes, instead finding the carpet extremely interesting. "I-It's nothing, Percy, don't worry about it."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Did Pontus order another torture session with all the generals?"

"No! No, it's just him, Thalassa, and everyone else except you." Triton mumbled that last part under his breath so that Percy couldn't understand what he had said.

"Repeat that again."

"It's everyone except you, Perseus! You're not permitted to be in there right now!"

A lump of anger started to burn in the pit of his stomach as Percy looked at Triton. Ever since he had been here so many secrets had been withheld from him, including the truth behind his past, and who was and wasn't his enemy. And he was a general for Hades' sake! He should know everything the others are supposed to know, so that the army can work in perfect tandem! Why would Pontus be withholding information from him now, when it seemed like Olympus was ready for the taking?

"You know what?" Percy spat, viciously glaring at Triton. "Go to that stupid meeting! Leave me in the dark like always!"

Triton visibly winced at the accusation. "Percy, that's not true-"

"Oh, it isn't? Triton, I know virtually _nothing_ about the nature of this army other than we oppose Olympus! How am I supposed to fight in a war that I have no experience with? What ill will do I have with the Olympians, enough of reason to have me here, in this army, rather than in the mortal world, waiting to see two armies rip the world to shreds?"

"If you would just let me explain-"

"I'm sick and tired of being used like a pawn on a chess board, Triton! I don't want to be here anymore!" Percy lowered his head in defeat. "I just wanna go home."

"This is your home, Percy," Triton said in a soothing voice, placing a comforting hand on Percy's shoulder.

Percy grit his teeth, brushing Triton's hand off. "Don't touch me. Go. I'll be filled in later, anyways."

He left his brother in the hallway with his mouth opening and closing like a koi, with a feeling of depression looming heavily on his shoulders as he quietly retreated back to his room. He was done with this.

And Percy _hated_ to be restrained.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, confession time. I've already said this before, but I pretty much only know the big details of this story, not the small ones. I'm not going on hiatus, don't worry, but I would really appreciate if any of you guys leave suggestions. I'll give credit where it's due if I like your idea. And just a question, do you guys want to see other POV's? Like up on Olympus or Sally or someone else in particular? Let me know by leaving a review! See ya Sparks later! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hiya Sparks! Sorry I was gone for three days, but I was trying to think of how I wanted this chapter to turn out. Shout out to the guest that gave me quite a few ideas to work with! I hope this is what you meant, but anyways, I liked how it turned out. Please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Still not Rick Riordan...*sigh***

* * *

Sally had been in the middle of shopping for baby clothes when Poseidon Iris messaged her. Normally, she wouldn't have jumped at hearing someone's voice over the rainbow, but she was in a public place, and people would peg her as insane if they saw her talking to no one. She reached in her purse for her phone, putting it up to her ear like she was taking a call, and motioned for Poseidon to start talking.

Poseidon looked like he had aged at least fifty years from the last time she had saw him in the hospital. His black hair had gone completely white; his skin was white as milk; worry lines were etched deeply into his face; and from what she could see of his body, his shirt hung limply off his shoulders. Either the sea was under attack again, or something so emotionally draining that his appearance reflected his mood. Whatever it was, Sally knew it couldn't have been good.

"Poseidon, what happened?" she asked, searching his emerald green eyes for any clues. The usual spark of happiness she would see in his eyes seemed to be snuffed out, and for the first time since they met, Sally truly saw just how old Poseidon was. He had seen the rise and fall of several million civilizations, had seen death and destruction like no other, not to mention the fact he was probably traumatized at one point in his life from being eaten by Kronos.

The god of the seas sighed; a gaunt, bony hand ran through his hair. He looked so absolutely exhausted, and Sally wanted to know what was making this once proud god stoop so low.

"He's gone," Poseidon said simply, his voice cracking.

Sally dropped the pink, frilly dress she had been looking at in suppressed shock. She had no doubt in her mind who this "he" was. It could be the only explanation that Poseidon was telling her himself instead of Nico or Jason dropping by to tell her the news.

Tears started to blur her vision, and it didn't help that her pregnancy hormones made her more susceptible to emotions. She choked back a sob. "How long have you known?"

He recoiled like he had been slapped, tears so obviously cascading down his face. It pained Sally to see Poseidon like this, but even though Percy was his favorite child, he would always be able to have more, grow close to them like he had done with Percy-but for her, Percy was her only son, the only thing that she could truly call hers for fifteen years. Then she met Paul, moved into a new apartment, and now, she was expecting a baby girl, who was due in three months. But before all of that, it had just been her and Percy, just the two of them.

When Poseidon didn't respond, Sally continued pushing. "How long have you known?!" She didn't scream, but you would have to be deaf to miss the hysteria in her voice.

"Six months," he answered through his tears. He vehemently wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, but new ones came streaming down just as fast as he could wipe them.

Sally immediately felt a strong sense of betrayal. When Hera had kidnapped him, she had found out the very next day when a distraught Annabeth nearly knocked her door down. Now, the same amount of time had almost passed (eight months), and she was just finding out about this. Why had none of his friends told her? Why didn't _Poseidon_ tell her as soon as he knew? It wasn't like Olympus was on lockdown anymore. As far as she knew, there was nothing stirring to destroy the world. But that was probably a positive outlook; there were millions of beings more ancient than the gods, and surely some of them had grudges they would like to repay.

Sally licked her suddenly dry lips, the worst possible thing imaginable idea running through the forefront of her mind. "Is he…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Instead, she rephrased her question, but either way, she would get the same answer. "Is he with Annabeth?"

Poseidon's eyes widened. "I wish, Sally-"

That was all she heard before her grief gave way to anger. How dare he wish that Percy was dead! If the heat she felt flushing her cheeks was anything to go by, she knew she was probably trying to beat a tomato for a new shade of red. She knew the stress couldn't be good for the baby, but she was too caught up in the moment to rationally think.

" _You wish?!"_ she exclaimed loudly, causing for a few of the other shoppers to turn their heads in her direction. She mouthed _relationship issues_ , to which she got understanding nods in return. "You _want_ our son dead? What in the name of your brother is wrong with you?!"

Poseidon violently flinched at the accusation. "What? No! Annabeth's _alive,_ and she has been ever since the winter solstice! I'm saying I wish he was with Annabeth, because at least I'd know that he _is_ still alive!"

Her anger fled as soon as it had come, grief settling in again. So…Percy _was_ dead? Or was he just missing again? These was one of those times Sally wished gods wouldn't be so cryptic so that they would get straight to the point.

"Okay. Sorry for my outburst, but I didn't know that," Sally apologized. "But Percy's dead, is what you're trying to tell me."

"Hades summoned his soul in front of the council last winter, but it was barely enough of a soul to make him convinced that Percy was truly dead. We think that someone kidnapped him, trying to turn him against the gods, but only now have we really found out whom we're up against."

Sally bit her lip, stifling a groan. "Great, our son in the middle of _another_ war. Can't you guys just patch up your relationships with everything older than you? That would save Western Civilization a lot of problems."

Poseidon gave a weak laugh, smiling at her optimism. "We're still learning all the details, Sally, but the second I hear anything about Percy, I'll let you know. But honestly, I think he's alive."

Sally breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods. I'm holding you to that promise, Poseidon. It better be your voice telling me that Percy is alive first, or I'll wait by Montauk for you, and we are going to have _words_ exchanged."

"Yes, ma'am. And Paul would be okay with that?"

"Paul treats Percy like a son, and he knows I love him; he'll be fine with me giving you an earful."

This time, Poseidon gave an actual laugh, and some of that mirth seemed to find its way back into his eyes. Sally was surprised she still had such an effect on the sea god, but that was a chapter of her life she already passed. She had Percy as a memory of their time together, and one child of the sea was enough. She rubbed a hand on her showing stomach, praying to all the gods that this baby wouldn't have to go through the hardships her brother went through.

"We'll bring him home, Sally. I promise."

"That's a second promise I have to hold you to," Sally said, amused that thee god was throwing around his word so freely. Inside, she was really wishing Poseidon would stop making promises he wasn't sure he could keep.

"I've got to go, Sally." Poseidon sighed, but some of the color seemed to have returned to his skin during the conversation. His hair wasn't as white anymore, and his shirt didn't hang so limply. "Another war council being held."

"Well, I don't want to be the reason you're holding everyone up." Sally gave him a knowing smile, sure that he would rather spend the entire time talking to her than listening to gods blather on and one about battle strategies and such. "Go, Poseidon."

He gave her one last warm, genuine smile before swiping a hand through the Iris message. Sally sighed, putting her phone back into her bag, before reaching down to pick up the clothes she had dropped in her brief moment of rage.

As she straightened up, rubbing a sore spot on her back from hunching over, she felt someone grab her shoulders. Before she could do anything, a cloth covered in a sickly sweet smell was smothering her face, clamped tightly over her mouth and nose.

"Look, we've got the prize," a voice said, sounding like hissing spider.

Finally the need for oxygen became too great, and Sally inhaled. Within a few seconds, her vision faded to black.

* * *

Percy stormed into his room, throwing the door shut so hard that it shuddered on its hinges. He grabbed a fistful of hair, contemplating whether he should've just ripped it out of his scalp. He decided not to, but he did rip the epaulettes of his jacket, leaving a gold kind of mark on the shoulders of the black jacket. He snapped the dog tags of his off his neck, throwing it into a drawer full of pictures of people he didn't know. Probably soldiers that had died long before he came.

He went to rip the necklace Pontus gave him off his neck, but as his fingers reached the teardrop charm, he dropped his hand to the side. There was something preventing him from destroying the necklace, yet it felt like an iron shackle around his throat. It was like he was betraying Pontus by doing that, but at the same time, he wasn't. Percy was stuck at an ultimatum: choosing between his past life that he knew nothing about, or this life, where he was a general, yet he couldn't trust anyone in here enough to have his back.

Percy went to reach for the pictures in the drawers, trying to see if he could identify any of them. There was one of a girl with curly blonde hair, sitting in front of the Lincoln Memorial, holding a Yankees cap in her hand, wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood tee, looking extremely proud. There was another of a young boy with black hair, holding a bunch of what appeared to be trading cards and little statues, smiling happily, while tugging on what could've been his sister's coattail. Another picture showed a girl with chocolate colored skin and an Asian boy cuddling together, holding a piece of wood in their hands.

Something burned in the back of Percy's mind. These people looked so familiar, but he couldn't identify a single one of them. They looked kind of like the prisoners in the dungeons, but if they were from either camp, these people most likely were already slaughtered-either by him or Kronos.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a melodic voice singing "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance from the bathroom. That was one of his favorite bands, he recalled, but he couldn't remember the last time he had heard their music. Too long, he supposed.

It was then that he realized that Nico was still prisoner in his room. Nico, who claimed to know Percy, even though he had been taught to hate the son of Hades. Maybe he had some answers as to why he was feeling this way.

Percy hummed along to the tune, entranced by how accurately Nico hit the notes. He probably could sing better than most Apollo kids, but Percy couldn't attest to that-Pontus hated singing. If it wasn't for Thalassa's pleasure, there was no singing allowed in front of him or any of the generals. Percy personally hated that rule, because he would always sing to himself in private whenever he had the chance.

When Nico finished that song, he began singing "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Fall Out Boy, another one of Percy's favorite bands. He hated most pop music, but other bands like FOB, MCR, Panic! At the Disco, Green Day, and Blink-182 were the kind of music he enjoyed.

A few minutes later, Nico came out of the bathroom wearing the clothes a servant had left out for him, his hair still damp from his shower. Steam fogged up the bathroom, but it didn't really bother Percy. Water was something he could use as an advantage-why hinder it?

Nico yelped when he realized that Percy was sitting on the bed, giving him a questioning look. Percy blushed at being caught listening to Nico sing, but he still looked at the son of Hades, trying to take in the small details with his eyes.

A dusty pink color graced his cheeks, and the gleam in his eyes made him appear like a cornered animal. His hands were seemingly steady, but Percy saw that he was trembling-from fear or cold, he didn't know. Nico took a few steps back, getting his bearings.

"W-what do you want with me?" Nico asked, fear evident in his voice. He started to retreat back into the bathroom, trying to put as much distance between himself and Percy as possible.

Percy got up from the bed, holding his hands out in a placating manner. He moved slowly, as to not scare Nico more than he already was. The son of Hades wasn't one to get frightened easily, Percy knew that, but the big doe-eyes that he was giving him made his heart melt and clench at the same time. He looked adorable, despite being helpless, but he knew he was receiving that look because Nico was afraid…afraid of him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Nico," Percy said cautiously. He neared Nico, making the other boy back up even more until his back was pressed up against the wall of the bathroom. He heard a small whimper escape Nico's mouth, something he would've never imagined hearing from Nico before.

Percy glanced at how he was holding himself, and he could tell why Nico felt intimidated. He had his shoulders back, his head held high, and walked with confidence, all how he had been trained to. But when it came to approaching someone who was scared, he could see how it made the person even more jumpy. He loosened his posture, bending his knees so he was about the same height. He made sure that his expression wasn't one of happiness or emotionlessness, but one of concern.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Percy repeated, taking a few steps back, giving Nico enough of a berth to feel comfortable-he hoped, at least. "I just have some questions for you."

"Are you going to torture me just like you did to Jason if I don't?" he asked, still flatly pressed against the wall. It was like he was trying to become one with the tiles.

Percy flinched. How had he heard about that? He swallowed a lump in the back of his throat as Nico's eyes widened in understanding. He _had_ whipped Nico's friend, putting a huge rift in the little trust he had earned.

"No!" Percy exclaimed. "No, I wouldn't dream of hurting you Nico."

"Yet you whip my friends like they're slaves!"

"They're prisoners! And so are you! If you had talked back like this to anyone other than me, I can assure you that your back would be so bloody, it would be a miracle if any of your skin wasn't scar tissue!"

Nico flinched back violently, his head bumping against the wall. "You're a monster," he spat venomously. "You're nothing like the Percy I remember. My Percy wouldn't have hurt his friends!"

"Well, news flash! I'm not him! I've stopped being the Percy you remember ever since you and my bastard father sold me off to this place! I'm a solider now, one that follows orders and has no emotions."

"Would you stop saying that I sold you off?!" Nico screamed. "I didn't, and your father _loves_ you Perseus Jackson, so stop accusing us! You were _kidnapped_ from us, turned into someone you're not!"

"What do you mean I was kidnapped?" Percy asked, his anger morphing into confusion. "Pontus said-"

"He lied to you, Percy! That's all they've done this whole time-lie! And you, being brainwashed and all, believed it." Nico's face turned into one of great sorrow and loss, different from the anger clouding his expression earlier. "And there's nothing I can do to change that."

Percy pursed his lips together in a pensive moment. So for the past six months he's been fed lies? No wonder he felt so out of place all this time, especially with at least one of the generals-or Pontus-breathing down his neck every day. If he truly was with the gods, and his father loved him as much as Nico claimed he did, then that meant he _had_ been kidnapped and brainwashed. He had been turned into Pontus' little puppet, with Pontus being the puppeteer, blindly fighting for him without ever asking why.

He looked down at his hands-calloused and scarred and covered in blood. Not his blood, but the blood of innocents that he had viciously razed down in the name of Pontus. He had killed an innumerable amount of children, just because they were children of gods that sided with Olympus. This was a fight between Olympus and Pontus, not the children barely old enough to even properly hold a sword correctly, let alone fight for their parents.

"Percy?" Nico asked timidly. Percy looked up, and it looked like he had gotten comfortable enough to be leaning against the wall instead of cowering against it. "What are you thinking?"

"It's my fault," he mumbled, running both hands through his hair, before clasping them together behind his neck. Percy began rocking back and forth on the heels of his feet, feeling his pulse start to accelerate with every beat of his heart. "It's all my fault!" He lashed out, punching the mirror so hard that glass sprayed everywhere.

He welcomed the familiar feeling of pain as the glass stuck in his hand burned. Percy pulled the bigger pieces out with his bare hand, while he used tweezers for the smaller pieces.

 _"_ _Idiota,"_ Nico cursed under his breath, helping Percy get the glass out of his hand. "It's okay to feel guilty, Percy. But was putting your fist through that mirror the best idea?"

"I needed to vent," he said, wincing as the cold tweezers grazed one of the open cuts.

"Am I hurting you?"

"Nah. Just, get on with it. I don't know how much glass is inside my hand, so I can't heal it with water right away."

Nico shrugged, discarding a bloodied shard into the garbage. "Makes sense."

There was a long period of silence, only filled by Percy when he hissed or winced in pain. Percy watched Nico work, and couldn't help but stare. His face was scrunched up in concentration, causing for a little crease between his eyebrows to form. He bit his lip every time he extracted another piece of glass, almost like Percy's injury had hurt him too. This rawness was so unexpected, and Percy fought the urge to coo at Nico as if he was a baby. Ugh, where did his tough guy façade go?

"So," Nico said, breaking the silence. "You said you had questions for me?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I did." Percy bent his fingers, seeing if anything was left in his hand, before muttering some not so friendly words under his breath. "Ah, there's something between my knuckles."

"Okay, on it." Nico started looking at Percy's hand again, and for a brief moment he glanced at the skull ring on his finger, before going back to poke around with the tweezers. "So, what questions did you have in mind?"

"What happened to me, Nico? Why am I here when I'm clearly one of you?"

Nico sighed, pushing his still slightly damp hair out of his eyes, before throwing away the last piece of glass. "What happened? Well, that is a long and complicated story. And it all started because you were too noble."

Percy laughed at that. He listened to Nico start the story as he ran his hand under water, the cuts healing up pretty fast. A good five minutes in, and he realized that the two of them were still in the bathroom-Nico sitting on the lid of the toilet and Percy on the edge of the bathtub. He motioned for the two of them to move to the bedroom, causing for a faint blush to spread on Nico's pale skin.

"Wait," Percy said, interrupting Nico as he got to the part about the Soul Switch magic that had entered his blood stream. "You mean to tell me I went _insane,_ Poseidon _disowned_ me, and then I was _kidnapped?"_ He gave a low whistle, impressed at the complicated mess he had been able to make. "It seems like my life is screwed."

Nico laughed so hard, he started to cry. Percy joined in, until he was laughing just as hard as the son of Hades, only stopping when he felt a stitch in his side. He still giggled, but the sore spot reminded him that he still needed to breathe.

"Oh, I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard," Nico said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Maybe six months ago? It was right before…" He stopped midsentence, looking at Percy as if to make sure he was real, that it wasn't some figment of his imagination. "…you disappeared," he finished. "You're one of the only people that can make me laugh like that."

Percy smirked. "Good to know."

He found himself scooting closer to Nico, and the son of Hades did the same. Their hands intertwined, and as Percy felt himself slowly leaning in for a kiss, Nico's breath seemingly touching his face, a brutal knock to the door caused them to spring apart, both blushing heavily.

"General! Lord Pontus is awaiting you in the throne room for a summoning!" a guard shouted through the door.

"I'm on my way!" Percy shouted back, before groaning. He gave Nico a hopeful look "We'll continue story time later?"

"S-sure," Nico stuttered out, his face still a bright red.

Percy grabbed a jacket that wasn't destroyed, threw it on, picked up his dog tags from the floor, and winked at Nico before he left the room. As soon as he shut the door, he wanted to rip the guard's head off. He was just about to kiss Nico, something he hadn't known he desperately wanted until he missed the opportunity, and of course Pontus wanted to summon him right then.

He mentally groaned one more time, hurriedly buttoning up his jacket as he ran up two flights of stairs to the throne room.

* * *

Percy was glaring daggers at Pontus from the moment he entered the throne room. Pontus narrowed his eyes at the demigod. Sure, he had been defiant before, but never like this or to his face. He stalked down the little strip of carpet leading to their thrones, not once tearing his gaze away. Anger burned like a raging fire in those sea green eyes of his, and it instantly set Pontus on edge. He had made sure all his generals give Percy their blessing, including himself and Thalassa as well. If Percy decided now to turn on them, things weren't going to turn out well.

"What was that meeting about yesterday?" Percy asked, still staring at Pontus straight in the eyes.

Pontus feigned ignorance. "What meeting are you talking about? I wasn't aware that we had-"

"Cut the BS, Pontus. I was on my way to the arena yesterday to train, when I ran into Triton. As we were about to go in, he told me I wasn't allowed, and when I asked why, he said there was a meeting, but I wasn't allowed to be there." Percy's glare intensified, if that was even possible. Had Pontus not been a primordial, he would've been running home to Chaos.

"Then I realized," he continued, "if you hold a meeting in which no one is being tortured, I'm never there, despite the fact that I'm your second in command, right after Thalassa. I'm always filled in by Triton, or Helios, or Kronos, or even Hecate, but I'm never there to hear the information firsthand myself. Why is that?"

"Perseus, you must understand that we only want what's best for you," Pontus began.

"Then why am I still here?" he interrupted.

"You're here, because I tell you to be here. Are you questioning my orders?"

"I've been questioning your orders ever since you sent me to kill an entire generation of demigods!" Percy exclaimed angrily. The shadows around him started to swirl violently, reacting to his anger. Then the water from a fountain in the corner joined his hurricane. Luckily for Pontus, Percy seemed content to keep his distance from the protogenoi-for now, at least.

"What problem do with have with them? They were kids! Innocent little children that were at camp, because they couldn't defend themselves against monsters that _you_ and Tartarus unleash at them!"

"They're only innocent for so long, Perseus," Pontus said, his voice rising with anger. "They grow up, and they learn to fight. They become a threat to all that we stand for!"

"What _you_ stand for!" Percy shouted, his voice becoming amplified by the echoes of the room. _"I_ don't condone _murdering_ hundreds of people under the age of eighteen for some petty grudge you hold against _their parents!_ If you want to strike against Olympus, fine, but don't attack the demigods. It's not their fault they were born!"

Pontus felt a sadistic smile spread across his face. "Exactly, my boy. Now you understand. It wasn't _their_ fault-it's their parents-but it's the parents that suffer when their demigod children die, not the demigods themselves."

Percy's glare didn't die at all, but a look of understanding crossed his features. He scowled, causing for the flurry of water and shadows to pick up their intensity, whipping around him so fast that his hair was being blown back, and his clothes rippled.

"I've faced Tartarus before," Percy said, much to Pontus' shock. How much of his memory was coming back? "And I can easily say you're more of a monster than he is. At least he was man enough to announce to my face he wanted me dead. But you, you hide behind this army that follows your every whim, killing people left and right."

Pontus grit his teeth. No, now was not the time for all his hard work to become undone, because some demigod had gone back to being all high-and-mighty. He wouldn't stand for it! Thalassa rubbed circles on his back, but he brushed his wife's hands off.

"You have been questioning my orders ever since you stepped foot in this room, Perseus. And general or not, you know what happens to those that question me."

Percy smirked, as if he knew something Pontus didn't. "I already know the punishment, and I've chosen who will dole it out."

"No, you haven't," Pontus growled out through clenched teeth. "Nyx will do it, and that's final!"

"No, it's really not. See, we're at an impasse. You say you want Nyx to whip me, but Thalassa is your equal, and if she says she wants Nyx to whip me, then I'll agree, if not, I choose."

Pontus looked over at his wife, who just gave him a pitying expression. "It's your back being whipped, Perseus, you decide."

She mouthed _sorry_ , but by then Pontus didn't care anymore at the lack of respect. He wanted Perseus to be whipped, and then he wanted his general under lockdown at all times. Perseus would fight for him against the Olympians, whether it be on his free will or not.

"Fine," Pontus sighed, resigned that a demigod had bested him. "Who will have the pleasure of beating you bloody?"

Perseus grinned evilly, sending chills up his spine.

Dear gods, what had he done?

* * *

 **A/N: As always, feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review if you liked the chapter! And I've got a good idea where the next few chapters are going to be heading, so get excited for that! Bye! ~RainbowSpark18 (::) (::) (::)**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am so, so sorry for not updating sooner! It's just that my summer vacation ends in 2 weeks, and I still need to finish my summer reading projects. Yes, projects, as in more than one. *sigh* Oh well, I'll get it done. This has been the main reason I haven't been able to update, that and I've got family visiting as well. Meaning, until I get my schoolwork done, updates will be slowing down a bit. And now that I've got this chapter done, I'm not the most satisfied by it. More of a filler, definitely, but it's almost 3:30 in the morning while I finish this and my sister and her friend are in my room playing on the Wii Mario Kart, so yeah, sorry if this chapter is subpar to the others. In any case, please enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**

* * *

Nico's expression was one of shock and fear as Nyx handed him her poison-coated whip, telling him how he should grip the handle to get the best hit. Percy was already chained to the wall, his back uncovered for his friends to lash him.

Pontus nearly blew a fuse when Percy told him that each of the prisoners would get to strike him five times, and there being nine immortal demigods, he'd fulfill the forty-five lashes his "Lord" had ordered. He already knew that the hits were going to sting like nothing else in this world, but he'd rather his supposed "friends" to be the one to hit him instead of Nyx, who would laugh sadistically while trying to see just how much blood his body would bleed out.

The other eight were in the front row seat of the arena, Selene and Helios on either side of the pew, and Perses and Kronos in the row behind them, so they wouldn't have the slightest chance of escape before being caught. Percy heard some of them sniffling, like they were crying, and that's what Hecate was there for, to slap them upside the head and shut them up.

"Well, boy?" Pontus asked in an irritated tone, his knuckles white from how hard he was gripping the armrests of his seat. "You going to whip his hide anytime soon, or should I send someone else up first?"

Percy looked over his shoulder as best he could, what with his arms chained and all, to see that the prisoners were looking down at the ground, biting their lips, while the daughters of Pluto and Athena looked like they were about to break down into a puddle of tears.

Percy heard the thick, braided rope coil on the ground, and pained whimpers seemed to be escaping Nico's lips. He had picked Nico to go first, because of everyone in this room, he trusted Nico the most for some unexplained reason. He had answered his questions back in his room without putting up too much of a fight, and even helping him with an injury when any other captive would've tried to use that moment to escape.

"Do it, weakling!" Thalassa roared, and all the other generals whooped and wailed jovially. They normally got a kick out of hurting the other soldiers, so Percy could only imagine the high they were going to feel at seeing one of their own to become a bloodied bag of flesh.

"Nico," Percy said in a reassuring voice. "It's okay."

"No, it's not," replied Nico, his voice shaky.

Then Percy heard the whip getting drawn back. With a painful lash, the barbed coil cut into his skin instantly, poison seeping through the cut. Again, he was hit a second time, but surprisingly enough, it didn't hurt as much as he anticipated. This wasn't his first time being whipped, but when Nyx usually did it, she usually used the shadows in the room to propel her weapon forward with more power, cutting deeper into his skin than a regular hit would have.

But it appeared the son of Hades was holding back, as it was the burning sensation of the poison hurting more than the actual leather hitting his back. He bit his lip as the fifth and final lash landed against his back, and he could already feel the rivulets of blood slowly tracing red rivers down his back.

Jason was next, and Percy found that fitting, seeing as he had whipped the son of Jupiter yesterday. Needless to say, his hits were much harder than Nico's, opening larger gashes on his back, but they still weren't as hard as they could've been.

The daughter of Bellona was next, whipping him five times fast, not giving his muscles a chance to tense up, making them cause less injury than had he been tense. That seemed to be the pattern with the prisoners. Yes, they'd whip him as he asked of them, but they held back, trying to make the pain as bearable as possible. The last six followed in suit, with the daughter of Aphrodite being the last one to wield Nyx's symbol of power.

"That's it?" Leto asked, not at all satisfied with how the outcome turned out. "He's still conscious! Give him two hours to recover, and he'll be back on his feet instantly! Those worthless demigods were holding back on this pathetic excuse of a general."

Kronos placed a hand on his wife's shoulder in a placating manner. **(A/N: In the first story, it was mentioned Leto was engaged with Kronos if any of you forgot)** He gave her one of his less frightening smiles, before turning to face Pontus and Thalassa.

"My wife is right," agreed Kronos, telling Erebus to take his place as a guard for a moment. "Normally, he would be unconscious, bleeding a waterfall, as his vocal cords become raw from screaming. Not a single whimper escaped from his mouth, Lord."

"Then he is stronger than we originally thought, Kronos," Pontus said in a grudging tone. "But I am still a just ruler. He took his punishment like a man."

"Don't you want him to beg for mercy?" Nyx asked, licking her lips in anticipation. "Plea like the little slave he is for you to stop? None of this sounds even remotely tempting?"

"My husband has spoken, Nyx," admonished Thalassa, giving the primordial of Night a glowering look. "And he is right; he took his punishment. We have no reason to hurt him further-especially not when he is one of our most valuable assets."

Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Will and Reyna instantly clamped their hands over his mouth. Percy had ended up in this position for talking back to Pontus, whom he worked for. Imagine the punishment he would receive considering that he was already a prisoner, and Percy had warned him multiple times back in his room how little tolerance the immortals had for disrespect.

"I'm sensing a but here," Triton added. "You're not going to torture him anymore, but…"

Perses scowled. "Since when did you become astute?"

"I've always been perceptive of these things."

"Nerd."

"At least I _have_ a brain."

"Why you little-!"

"Quiet!" bellowed Pontus, raising a hand. The two that had been arguing blushed, lowering their heads. "Triton is right. While we aren't going to physically hurt him…" A smug smile graced his lips, sending chills through everyone's spine.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Hazel whispered to Frank.

"No clue." He pulled her head onto his shoulder, gently running a hand through her chocolate curls.

"Arachne! Bring out the prisoner!" ordered Thalassa.

Annabeth violently flinched, causing for Piper and Reyna to rub her back in comfort. They only heard parts of the story when Annabeth confronted Arachne under Rome; but they did know she was the main reason she and Percy had fallen into Tartarus in the first place.

The first spider had apparently taken a human form, but giant mandibles poked out of her mouth like fangs, and parts of her skin were covered in the furry hair that spiders usually had covering their body-well, the bigger spiders, anyways. In her arms, bound and gagged and unconscious, was a figure Percy somehow recognized despite his past still being a complete blur to him.

Those that knew the woman inhaled sharply, looks of anger and disgust evident on their face. Nico glanced over at Percy, who had been forgotten for the most part, meaning he was working on freeing his hands from the shackles. But for the moment, he looked absolutely heart broken, frozen in time like a statue.

It wasn't just the fact that most of the immortal demigods recognized the abducted woman; no, it was the fact that she was so obviously pregnant, being forced to most likely endure unbearable torture.

"Leave my mother out of this!" Percy shouted, disappearing from his bonds before reappearing next to Arachne, his armor out and Riptide pressed tightly against the spider woman's throat. "I will endure whatever you planned for my mom, but you leave her out of this."

"Ah, _there's_ the begging," Nyx said, placated while wearing a smug grin. Erebus nudged her into silence, causing for a dangerous fire to gleam in her eyes, before she settled on pouting like a toddler.

"Eh, I've heard better," chimed Kronos. "If that's begging, you've clearly never been to Othrys on a good day."

"A good day was when you weren't complaining about having five gods in your stomach," Hecate commented, raising an eyebrow at that. "Every other day you were publically executing some mortal that somehow wronged you."

Kronos smiled cruelly, as if happy that someone remembered the Age of the Titans. "Blood red is such a flattering color on the floor of a throne room."

The other Titans in the room-Hecate, Leto, Helios, Selene, and Perses-either wrinkled their nose in disgust, or nodded their head in an approving manner ( _cough_ , Perses, _cough_ ). Thalassa looked indifferent, and Pontus had a pensive look on his face.

"Back to Sally Jackson's punishment," interrupted Thalassa, stopping the pointless conversation between the Titans before it could continue further. "What is the worst thing you could ever do to a mother-to-be?"

"Kill them?" Triton guessed.

"Make them insane?" answered Erebus.

Selene slapped them both upside the head, using the hilts of her daggers to make the pain worse. Although she'd have to patch them up later in the infirmary, she wanted to shut the both of them up. Boys were so stupid. Her lips curled upward in disgust. Great, she was beginning to sound like the little moon virgin and her band of pre-pubescent girls.

"Idiots," Selene growled out, glaring at the two immortals as they rubbed their heads. Even her own brother backed up a little from the look she was giving them. "You don't actually hurt the mother; you go after what they love the most: their child."

If it was possible for Percy to become more crestfallen, he did at that very moment. He pressed Riptide closer to Arachne's neck, hard enough for her to start making the hissing sound spiders make when they're going to attack.

"None of that," he growled quietly next to her ear. "Make one move that I don't like, and you'll be back in Tartarus before you can even blink." Arachne hissed again, but she stood still otherwise.

Pontus looked bored at this point. "I honestly could care less about the mortal woman right now."

"But sweetie," Thalassa said, confusion in her voice, "you ordered a group of over fifty monsters to abduct this woman. Why are you going to let your hard work go to waste?"

"Because we need to regain Perseus' trust again, my queen. It's clear that having that son of Hades in his bedchambers is giving him…" He paused to sneer at said son of Hades, which the boy didn't even acknowledge, instead looking at Perseus with a deep longing and sadness in his eyes. "…rebellious ideas," he continued. "I want those prisoners under maximum security at all times, and the brat of Hades will be with the others, too, no exceptions. That will take the place of Senior Jackson's punishment. Just…send her back to the mortal world with no memory of what took place here."

Thalassa sighed. It was times like these that she hated that Pontus was the primordial of the seas; because like the seas, he was completely unpredictable, changing his opinions just as often as they came. She hoped by now he would be able to control it, but it was clear it was his primal intuitions, something nearly impossible to break.

"As you wish, my king." She glanced over at the two protogenoi of darkness in the room-one who was cleaning her blood-stained whip, while the other was nursing the bump Selene had given him. "Nyx, Erebus, it is currently nighttime in New York; I expect this woman back in her bed before the sun chariot is riding across the sky."

"Yes, my queen!" the two cheered, undoing all the binds and the gag, before taking the unconscious woman from Arachne's arms, and together the trio vanished into the shadows. Meaning they left behind a pissed Perseus, still holding the first spider with a sword at her neck. He didn't even blink, slitting her throat in a swift movement, letting her dust crumble at his feet.

Perseus stalked up to where Pontus and Thalassa were sitting. The only thing keeping the son of Poseidon from attacking the duo was the fact that Perses and Triton had moved in front of the king and queen, as well as the royal guard. He stayed a good distance away, scowling deeply, completely unaware or indifferent to the beating he had received earlier.

"If I find out you harmed a single hair on my mother's head, I don't care if I'm the most loyal person in this blasted army, I _will_ turn on you in a heartbeat," Percy threatened, looking Pontus dead in the eyes with his wolf-stare on steroids.

"You don't mean that," the primordial of the sea taunted, swallowing a lump in the back of his throat.

Percy raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, I don't? I swear it on the Styx if I find my mother or any of my family members harmed in anyway shape or form, I will turn on Pontus and everything he stands for."

Multiple gasps were heard, and the generals, lieutenants, and demigods in the room started screaming over each other. Guards came rushing into the room, literally dragging everyone that was a prisoner kicking and screaming out of the room.

Percy glared one more time at Pontus and Thalassa, scoffing, before turning on his heel, walking out of the arena like nothing was wrong despite the fact that he was still bleeding and poison was coursing through his body.

Pontus had been trying to make the situation better for him, but all he seemed to be doing was screwing things up even more.

* * *

Percy didn't want to be here anymore. He had spent a long enough time with Nico to learn that he was never supposed to be here in the first place, leaving a feeling of bitter resentment in his mind. He wasn't one to keel over and obediently obey whatever he was told-even if he had been taught to act that way. He was naturally a free-spirit, completely untamable even though he faced unimaginable horrors that would break any other person-but not him.

Outside of his room, a squadron of guards was placed there, making sure he couldn't go anywhere without an escort. At least they had enough decency for them to give him privacy inside his own room, seeing as he'd probably would've broken the jaw of the unlucky person assigned to watch his every movement. That would be stalker-ish on a whole new level, even worse than _Twilight._

His back was already mostly healed-he had taken a shower and ate a square of ambrosia when he came back from the arena. The poison was still in his system, making him cautious of his movements, as any abrupt motion would send a wave of soreness through the moving limb. It was bad enough he could comfortably lay in bed without being in pain, but it was even worse when his vision would blur for a bit. That was a side effect; it was never permanent, but it was an annoying hindrance.

He flopped onto his bed stomach first, once again reaching for the drawer of pictures. Names slowly came back to him, as did some of his good memories with the people. But his favorite picture was one of him and Nico, snuggling together by what appeared to be a campfire, draped with a brown blanket during the winter. He had no idea when that scene took place, or who even took the picture.

Percy had been told by Nico that they had dated for a brief amount of time before being torn apart underneath Mt. St. Helens. Apparently he had thought it was a good idea to walk through miles and miles of underground lava chambers through dormant volcanoes, when there was a chance they would be caught in an eruption-which is what happened.

Nico had been the thing he had felt missing the entire time he was here. He felt…more at peace when Nico was around and in his room. He had been able to spill his guts about all of his insecurities and doubts about being here, and Nico had attentively listened, adding in a snide remark here and there, causing for Percy to break out in laughter. There was obvious chemistry between the two of them, in a way that they'd never leave the other to fend for themselves unless there was no other way.

His friends had been searching for him for just about six months now, and he could only imagine how betrayed the must've felt, especially since he had participated in the slaughter of one of the two safe places for demigods in the world. But that had been when he still had an ounce of trust and respect for Pontus. Now, Percy would rather blow up the entire ocean instead of seeing that bastard again.

Percy had sworn on the Styx to turn on Pontus if he harmed one of his friends…but he never mentioned anything about him turning on his own free will. Oh, how he loved loopholes.

He slowly got up, before going into his dresser and pulling out the pouch of drachma he had found in there-at least fifty. Grabbing a handful of the golden coins, he entered his bathroom, turning on the shower to hot water, until there was enough mist to make a rainbow.

Using his still faulty memory, he remembered the prayer for Iris messaging. "O' Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me…"

* * *

Andy was in the Iris cabin currently, lacing up her favorite pair of combat boots with Celestial bronze tips-which in itself was a rarity among demigods; most blessed metals are used in weapons, not in articles of clothing. She felt the iciness of her silver daggers pressing against her heels through its sheath, but she was already used to the feeling by now. She braided her hair hastily, before using a handful of bobby-pins to leave her hair in a bun. As for clothes, she was just in a typical Camp Half-Blood shirt with black workout pants. Normally, she would've worn jeans, but she planned on training until her muscles were screaming in agony, and jeans would've been too restricting for what she wanted to do.

Her cabin mates-not siblings, cabin mates-were still peacefully in the realm of Morpheus, seeing as there wasn't a ray of sunlight to be seen. It was around 5:30 in the morning, and wakeup call wasn't until seven. The wooden floor creaked slightly under her feet, but she had been taught stealth ever since she could spy.

She tried to push her thoughts away, but the overwhelming memory of how she had been recruited into Olympus' Special Ops program was enough to send shivers down her spine in the cooler morning.

 ** _Flashback_**

It had been about a year since her father's death, and Thomas had been found violently murdered in their apartment about four months ago. Andy was only nine-much too soon to see so many people close to her heart die. Thomas could never replace her father, but she still saw him as a father figure, someone who took her in even though he didn't have to. She loved him like a father.

She had been offered to be escorted to Camp Half-Blood by a satyr named Tom, ironic enough, but with his name being so painfully similar to her dead stepfather, she just asked for the direction, saying that she would get there on her own. Looking back on it now, she had been extremely petty and naïve for not following Tom, but she still turned out fine in the end, she guessed.

Andy was alone in the state of New Jersey, which admittedly, wasn't far from New York at all, especially since she probably could've gotten a taxi across the GW Bridge into Manhattan. Heck, if she was really that desperate, she could've called her aunt. There was just one problem with that: she _hated_ her aunt with every fiber of her being.

One time, Andy had been with Aunt Lucille while her dad was deployed over in Iraq for a few months, in which her aunt allowed her older sons, Henry and Drake, who were sixteen and fourteen respectively to use her as a punching bag. At the time, she had been seven. When her dad picked her up, her bruising and broken bones had all been healed, looking like the same exact girl he had left all those months ago. Not to mention that Lucille would call her insulting names for having ADHD and dyslexia, and at times, she would say she was so worthless that she would refuse to feed her for days on end.

A few weeks had passed since the meeting with Tom, and currently, Andy was taking refuge with a nice family that had insisted that she stayed with them for the weekend, before she could return back home. The thing was, she no longer had a home, not since her father died.

That night, she had gotten one of the most vivid dreams to date. She had been dressed in a long, flowy dress with sleeves that would keep slipping off her shoulders and sandals with straps that reached up to her knees. It looked kind of like the dress that belonged in Ancient Greece, something she had learned during their mythology unit in class.

And sure enough, there were twelve people in thrones around thirty-feet tall, looking down at her with varied degrees of amusement, or flat our boredom in some of the gods ( _cough_ Ares and Dionysus _cough_ ). The power radiating off of them was nearly enough to send her to her knees, but she stood straight, head held high with the same level of confidence her father had taught her to embrace. One of the last things he taught her was: If you act confident in scary situations, you'll feel more at ease. And, like always, he was right.

"Daughter of Ariana," the man seated in the smack middle of the U of thrones spoke. "You have endured through many hardships, and you know where a safe haven is for people like you, but you haven't shown any real decision of going. Why is that?"

"I don't trust people," she said. "I can only trust myself, and the monsters leave me alone. I'm safe."

"My daughter acted like that around this age," a lady wearing a billowy, purple dress said, looking at her reflection in a mirror the size of a dinner plate as she reapplied her lipstick. Her features kept shifting, but they seemed to settle on the same gentle, loving brown eyes of her father. She wished her eyes would stay the same colors. Andy had learned that her eyes change colors to reflect her moods, and people would cringe away from her when she was mad, unable to look into her blood red eyes.

"Really, Aphrodite?" another female asked. She had black hair and steely gray eyes, and a book with at least six-hundred pages was in her lap. "Why are you bringing your daughter into this?"

Aphrodite shrugged. "It was really more of a way to claim her as my granddaughter." Then she shot a glare at one of the men opposite her, who was wearing a leather jacket and had eye sockets full of fire. "Ares, don't you have something to tell Andromeda?"

"How do you know my name?" she asked timidly, trying to disappear. Andy didn't like being with people she didn't know, and no one should be able to be this powerful…unless they were supernatural beings or something along those lines. But the names sounded just like the ones in the Greek myths.

The blood drained from her face. Oh God…or should she say gods? She was speaking to the gods of the Greek pantheon.

"Punk's also my granddaughter," Ares grunted out. "Her dad was one of my boy's. He made me proud."

"My dad's dead!" Andy screamed. "How does _that_ make you proud?!"

Ares gave a low growl, causing for Andy to retreat to the side of the room with the female goddesses. It looked like they had better control over their tempers than the males. "He died in war, brat, something you wouldn't understand. War is my domain, so he died fighting in my name."

"World's worst Grandpa," Andy muttered to herself quietly, silently fuming that the god of war was her grandpa. Of all the gods _he_ had to be her grandpa? Unfair.

"Lord Zeus, why did you summon me here?" Andy asked respectfully, deducing that the first man who had spoken to her was the King of the Gods.

"You have showed that you are pure of heart, and have the potential for much power seeing as you are Ariana's first demigod child," Zeus explained. "We want you on our Special Ops team, my dear."

Andy blinked twice, trying to use her nine-year-old mind to process the information she had just been given. There was still many unknowns, but she quickly learned what her role was. She wouldn't have to go to the camp, but she would have to be trained in order to do her job correctly. She agreed, and after the weekend with the nice family was up, she was teleported to Olympus to begin her new life.

 ** _Flashback End_**

Andy shook her head, finally shoving her past out of her mind, realizing that her feet had led her to the training grounds just like she had wanted. She was already halfway done with her warmup when she heard someone call her name.

Instantly, her daggers were in her hand, her eyes glancing over the entire area with trained vigilance. Then she focused on the rainbow that had appeared a few feet from her. It showed the worn face of her boss, but he looked happier than he had in ages, and that was saying something seeing as the pact of the Big Three was no more.

"Lord Zeus," Andy said respectfully, bowing her head. "Is everything alright on Olympus?"

"Oh, everything is better than alright! Go grab your squadron, and meet me here at once!"

Andy bit her lip. "My lord, my squadron has been under constant surveillance from Pontus, and I think it's completely plausible that a few have already been executed. I'm the only one left of the Special Ops."

"Way to dampen the mood," Zeus said, pouting like a kid who had been told they were going to get ice cream, but they'd have to get their teeth pulled first. "In any case, I want you here then. If you truly are the last one, it's vital you come and hear this information."

"I'll be there as soon as I can, milord. Let me leave a note for Chiron, and I'll ride one of the pegasi to Olympus."

"Good, good. I'll see you then!" The Iris message dissipated as Zeus waved a hand through the rainbow.

Well, that was strange, Andy thought to herself as she began jogging back to the Iris cabin to change into jeans and scribble a note. She had never seen the Lord of the Skies so happy before; he was usually so serious and stoic, the most emotion usually being anger or frustration.

Andy mounted the Pegasus Porkpie, before kindly asking for a ride to Olympus. The winged horse snorted indignantly, causing her to sigh, and she promised to give him a donut much to her chagrin. That seemed to be incentive enough, and with that, they took off soaring to Olympus to see what had gotten Zeus so riled up.


	10. Not an update, sorry

...Hi? *dodges whatever you guys want to throw at me* *sigh* Yes, I know that it's been almost a month since I last updated. I have a valid reason, though. The first two weeks that I didn't update, I was working on my summer reading project for what is probably one of the most boring books I have ever read. These past two weeks were my first few weeks of school, and my teachers already loaded me with homework. I had an algebra two test on the first day of school! Yeah, the quizzes and tests and homework are giving me little to zero free time to actually do things I can enjoy, such as writing for you guys.

There's also a second reason I haven't been updating; I have a severe case of writer's block. If any of you guys want to submit ideas, I'd be grateful, because I feel like the next few chapters will be sucky since I have zero inspiration. The only thing I'm sure about is how I want this story to end, but the details as to how I want this to end just aren't present in my mind. Though I can promise that 1) I'm not abandoning this story, and 2) this isn't up for adoption. Consider this as me being on hiatus, as much as it pains me to say that.

I love all my readers so very much, and I hope you guys understand. I'm so, _so_ sorry if you thought this was an update, but I'd rather you know that I'm still alive rather than just abandoning this website. I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted, but I'll work on it whenever I get some inspiration and time.

 **EDITED 09/03/16**

I have a poll on my profile, and I would greatly appreciate if you voted. These are my next story ideas while this one is on hiatus.

Until next time,

RainbowSpark18.


	11. I'm back!

Um...hi?

*dodges barrage of rotten food*

So, it's been nearly a year that I've updated this, and I'm glad to say that I've finally got a plan for how I want this story to work out. But in order to do this, I'm going to be rewriting this book. I feel like this was very rushed and had way too much going on for me to do this in a way that makes me feel happy with the end result.

The rewrite will be very similar to what I already have written, but there will definitely be major changes in certain parts, so stay tuned for that. I'm so excited to be back guys!

I'll be posting the rewrite soon!

Thank you all for sticking with me! I love you all very much! 💜

~RainbowSpark18


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